Chapter V: Part 5

The only alterations which appear to have been made in the building are two or three windows. The ground plan shows a proportion which, if not intentional, is singular. If four circles of the exterior diameter of the tower are laid down in a line, and the first occupied by the tower, the second and third fill the inside of the nave, and the fourth takes in the chancel, including the side walls, but excluding the east wall. The whole is of grey whinstone, without any freestone dressings, and has become very picturesque in colour, from the rich grey lichen on some parts and bright yellow lichen on others.

The masonry is chiefly in courses, but the size of the stones very irregular, some being as large as 4 feet long and 1 foot 6 inches deep. The interstices are filled with very small stones. Here and there irregular blocks are inserted.

The whole is built with mortar.

The extreme length is 62 feet 9 inches, and the extreme width is 21 feet 7 inches.

The nave is 29 feet 9 inches by 15 feet 6 inches inside. The north and south walls are 3 feet thick. On the north and south, opposite each other, are two doorways 2 feet 6 inches wide. These have round arched

heads and rebated jambs without chamfers. On the north side of the nave is a window 3 feet 3 inches high and 8½ inches wide at the outside of the wall with semicircular head. (Figs. 98-100.) The jambs are splayed inwards to 2 feet 9 inches wide. On the south is a similar window. It is to be observed that these windows have no external chamfer--that is, the outer edges of the jambs are acute angles. This peculiarity is found in early Irish churches.[128] They were not originally glazed, but probably had a frame fitted into them, when required, covered with parchment. On this south side are two windows, not original--one close to the east wall and low down, the other high up over the south doorway, (see Fig. 102.)

The side walls are about 15 feet 4 inches high from the floor, equal to the internal width of the nave.

On the west of the nave is the tower, which is circular, 14 feet 10½ inches diameter externally, and 7 feet 8 inches diameter internally. An arch 2 feet 5 inches wide leads from the nave into it. (Fig. 101.) The jambs are 3 feet 7 inches thick, and the head is semicircular. The tower appears to have been built with the nave, although the stones in the tower are on the average smaller than those in the nave, which difference may be accounted for by the unfitness of large stones, when not freestone, for circular work.

The tower seems to have contained four chambers, including the one on the ground.

Above the tower arch, at 16 feet 3 inches from the floor of the nave, but under the nave roof, is an arched opening in the tower 5 feet 4 inches high and 2 feet 3 inches wide. A similar opening is found in many early churches in England, the use of which is not ascertained.

Arches in the same position are in St. Magnus.

The nave roof appears to have been of a “square pitch”--that is, the angle at the apex is about a right angle. Of the construction of the roof we know nothing, except that it was not vaulted.

Probably all the rafters were framed in couples, and the covering formed of coarse slates.

Each end of the roof is terminated by a wall 1 foot 2 inches wide, formed of corby-steps, standing up above the roof as usual. The ridge of the roof was about 25 feet above the floor. Above the roof of the nave in the east side of the tower is an arched opening 4 feet 1 inch high and 1 foot 9 inches wide. At about 7 feet above this is a smaller opening in the east side, and similar ones in the three other sides of this story. The top of the tower is now about 11 feet wide, and about 48 feet from the floor of the nave. It is stated that about 15 feet was taken off the top. Probably it was surmounted by a conical roof.

On the south side, and near the ground, is a window, but this is a modern work. There is a small window in the second story looking north. (See Fig. 99.)

The chancel is 14 feet 11 inches by 9 feet 5½ inches inside; the side walls 2 feet 9 inches thick, and the east wall about the same. It is roofed with a plain barrel vault, of which the semicircular chancel arch forms part. (See Fig. 101.) The impost of this arch is 5 feet from the floor of the nave. Probably there was a step here or a little farther east.

The pressure of the vault has forced out the jambs of the arch (that is, the side walls), and given the arch a horse-shoe form. Dr. Wilson lays some stress on this peculiarity of form, taking it to be intentional, but it is purely the result of lateral pressure.

The east end has no window. On the north is a window 1 foot 7½ inches high and 11 inches wide at the outside, with a semicircular head, below the impost of the vault. The jambs are splayed inward to 2 feet 1 inch in width, without an external chamfer. On the south is a similar window. (Fig. 102.) Probably, like the nave windows, they were not originally glazed.

Over the vault of the chancel is a chamber, entered from the nave by a semicircular arch 6 feet 4 inches high and 2 feet 2 inches wide, over the chancel arch. (See Fig. 101.)

It is lit by a flat-headed window in the east end, 1 foot 6 inches high. This probably served as a depository for books, muniments, &c.

It is called by the country people “Grief House,” and supposed to have been a prison, &c.

The side walls of this chamber are 2 feet 4½ inches thick, and the east wall 2 feet 7½ inches.

The ridge of the chancel roof was 20 feet 9 inches above the floor of the nave. [Figs. 103, 104 show the appearance of the building from south-east and north-west.]

It remains too approximate to the date of this church.

There was a church in Egilsey when St. Magnus was murdered in 1110. The attaching so large a tower to the church tends to show that this was a church of a superior order when it was built.

The style of architecture (Figs. 103, 104) (discarding certain indications of an earlier date) prevents our assigning to it a later date than the beginning of the twelfth century. When we contrast it with the Kirkwall Cathedral, begun in 1137, we are forced to give an earlier date than that to Egilsey. This opinion is corroborated by the churches at Orphir and the Brough of Birsa. The islands were conquered by the Norsemen in 876, and reconverted to Christianity in 998. The church, therefore, was probably not built between those dates. There were Christians in these islands before the arrival of the Norsemen. The name of the island, as

before mentioned, is evidence that there was a church of distinction in Egilsey when they arrived.

Neale[129] supposes that the church to which St. Magnus fled was on the east side of the island; supposing Haco to have come from Birsay by the north of Rousay to the east of Egilsey. Haco’s starting point is not certain; but if it was Birsay, he would naturally have come by the south of Rousay to the west of Egilsey.

There is some confusion about the Episcopal Church and residence. Barry (p. 162) quotes Torfœus as stating that Bishop William lived in Egilsey. Neale (following Barry) has made the same statement.

Torfœus twice states that the bishop resided at Birsa.

The Saga is still more to the point, and states that at the time of St. Magnus’s death William the Old was bishop, and the see was then at Birsa. But Torfœus, in three or more other passages, states that Bishop William _was in_ Egilsey--not necessarily _residing_ there.

We must understand (if Torfœus is right) that he generally _lived_ in Birsa, but often officiated at Egilsey. We may thence infer that Egilsey was an important church in Bishop William’s time, and that it was fixed

on as the place of meeting of Haco and Magnus from being frequently the bishop’s abode. We do not, however, find the bishop mentioned in the account of the murder of St. Magnus as adviser or mediator.[130]

Wilson, in his _Prehistoric Annals_, p. 587, has a notice of this church, to which the reader is referred. He supposes it to be the work of Irish Christians before the expedition of Harold in 876, and to be the church which caused the Norsemen to give its present appellation to the island.

There is at all events nothing to disprove this, but if we put the tower for the moment out of the question, there is little to induce the assignment of so early a date. The absence of freestone, the round arches, the chancel vault, the small number and size of the windows, do not necessitate a date earlier than the twelfth century.

The tower, then, is the feature which specially points to an earlier period. Dr. Wilson apparently inclines to class this tower with the later round towers of Scotland and Ireland.

When, however, we compare it, there appears little or no resemblance except its circularity.

The round towers, with one or two exceptions, are detached buildings, though situated within a few feet of churches, have their entrances at

several feet from the ground, and have jambs inclined towards each other upwards. They have other differences of construction, which, however, may be in part accounted for by the difference of the available materials.

The Irish tower which most resembles Egilsey is the smaller one of the two at Clonmacnoise. This is an integral part of the church, and joined to the south-east angle of the nave. The entrance to it is on the ground, from the chancel. To this church Dr. Petrie assigns the date of some years before 1000 (p. 271). In many particulars the tower at Egilsey approximates more closely to the round towers of Norfolk, which are of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. There is no evidence of another church in another place having existed in the island; nor account of the _building_ of any church in the island.

These, however, are very slight evidences of the antiquity of the present church.

There does not appear to be positive evidence that the Christian priests were exterminated by the Norse conquest; though it is probable that they would fly westward. If, however, we give up the idea of its Norse origin, we ought to find resemblances between it and the ancient Irish churches of the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries. These we do find. First, the size of Egilsey is close on the authoritative size of the more important of the ancient churches, presuming the present foot to be about equal to the ancient Irish foot. The authorised Irish size is 60 feet by 27 feet; Egilsey is 62 feet 9 inches and 21 feet 7 inches. The lowness of the chancel, the chamber or “croft” over it, the second chamber in the tower with an arch from it into the nave over the tower arch, the number and size of the windows, the peculiarity of their splays, having no exterior chamfer, the character of the masonry, all resemble the early Irish churches. On the other hand, three great criteria of an early Irish church are not found in Egilsey--the approximation of the jambs of doors and windows towards their imposts, the horizontal heads to the doorways, and the east window. It seems, however, probable that the difference of the materials induced one of these differences. It was difficult to get in Orkney lintels strong and long enough for heads of doorways, though we find them in the broughs. The rebates in the doorways are again of a very early date.

It seems on the whole fair to suppose Egilsey to have been built after the traditional Irish form, but with modifications; and soon after the reconversion of the islands to Christianity in 998. If built before that time, we must refer it to the beginning or middle of the ninth century.

Unfortunately Neale, when in Orkney, was unable to see this church, and has given a cut, professing to be an approximate likeness of the tower, which is very erroneous in several particulars. The etching in Muir’s “Sketch” is also wrong in proportion.

In the _Orcadian_ of January 1855 is an account by Mr. Petrie of the finding the remains of Bishop William “the Old” in the cathedral in 1848. His bones, and the chest containing them, were moved when the cathedral was reseated in 1856. The leaden plate bearing the inscription, and a bone article (doubtless the cross handle of his walking stick) found in the chest, are now in the Edinburgh Museum.

CHURCH ON BROUGH OF BIRSAY.

The brough contains about 40 acres, and is separated on the east from the mainland by a rocky channel, which is about 150 yards wide, and dry at low water. The surface of the brough slopes down from a high cliff on the west to a cliff of about 20 feet high on the east. The chapel is about 50 yards from the shore at the point nearest to the mainland. (Fig. 105.) It is enclosed in a yard about 33 yards east and west, by 27 yards north and south, of which the wall is destroyed. At the edge of the cliff are traces of a wall. The chapel consists of nave, chancel, and apse, all well defined, and all apparently built at the same time. (Fig. 106.) The material is grey whinstone, and no traces of freestone dressings appear. It stands nearly east and west, but the west end facing a little to the north of west.

The extreme exterior length is 57 feet, and extreme width 21 feet 3 inches.

The west wall is 3 feet 8 inches thick; the north and south walls of nave and aisles 2 feet 9 inches; the wall of apse 2 feet 4 inches. There were no buttresses.

The interior is filled with debris to the depth of about 2 feet 6 inches above the floor, and the exterior to about the same depth. Partial excavations were made for this plan. Of the west end, only 3 feet in height of wall remains (Fig. 107); of the north wall (Fig. 108) a little more, and of south wall a little less; of the north wall of chancel, 8 feet 6 inches; of south wall of chancel, about 2 feet; of the apse, about 2 feet 4 inches. The nave is 28 feet 3 inches by 15 feet 6 inches inside. The only entrance to the church is in the west end, 3 feet 8 inches wide. The jambs are parallel, without any chamfer, and there is no rebate for a door nor appearance of hinges; and original plaster remains on the jamb down to the sill and all across it. There is no appearance of the insertion of a wooden frame. This mode of making jambs of doorways is to be seen at Lybster in Caithness, Wyre, Lynton in Shapinsay, Uya in Shetland, and in some of the oratories in Ireland, &c.[131] Were there doors in these doorways,

and, if so, where placed and how hung? It is known that in many cottages in old times the door was an animal’s hide hung across the opening, and probably this may have been the case in these unrebated church entrances. Possibly this plain jamb may be an evidence of antiquity; though Egilsey and Kirk of the Ness in Yell have the usual form of jamb. Probably this doorway was surmounted by a semicircular arch, though many of the ruder chapels had square-headed doorways with a large stone lintel, as at Lybster, Caithness. There are very few instances of the passage between a nave and chancel being square-headed. Where there is a semicircular arch on plain jambs, as in the doorways beforementioned, and in some chancel arches, as at Linton, Shapinsay; Kirk of the Ness, Yell; Wyre, &c., there is generally a peculiarity which may be mentioned here--the feet of the arch are set back on the jambs at the imposts two or three inches on each side. This was probably to support the centre on which the arch was built, instead of supporting it by props from the floor.

In the north-east and south-east corners are two circular spaces 5 feet 6 inches in diameter (see Fig. 108), the south one of which contains a freestone stair step, and the north one some broken stone. Probably both were staircases; but how high they reached, to what they led, and what was the superstructure we can only conjecture. One or both may have led to turrets, or to priests’ rooms over the chancel arch, or chancel or nave. We cannot suppose a rood-loft to have existed here. The support of the west side of the stairs is now gone, but we must suppose that a block of masonry existed which included the circle of the staircase. Against this, the _seat_ on the south apparently runs past the spot at which it should have stood, and there are no decisive traces of a junction in the north and south walls. There is no other solution of the difficulty. This very massive separation between nave and chancel is probably unique. M‘Cormac’s chapel at Cashel has a turret and a chamber in nearly the same positions as these staircases; but the construction in that case is clear.[132]

A stone seat, 1 foot 2 inches high and 1 foot 2 inches wide, ran all round the nave--at least, it was traced at west doorway and at the east end of the south wall of the nave. The roof was probably of tie beam construction, and covered with stone slabs.

The entrance to the chancel is 4 feet 3 inches wide, of which 4 feet in height of the jambs remain. They are 3 feet 7 inches thick from west to east, but if the construction was that suggested above, the jambs were 7 feet from west to east, including an entrance into each turret 2 feet wide. (Fig. 109.) The entrance to the chancel was probably surmounted by a semicircular arch of whinstone, plastered, about 8 feet or 9 feet high to the apex, with string-course caps 4 or 5 inches deep. The angles were not chamfered.

There is a step in this entrance of only 2 inches, and from that to the east end of the apse was flush originally. The pavement is of flagstones. This low position of the original altar is peculiar.

The chancel is 10 feet 9 inches east and west, and 10 feet 3 inches inside. Only one window remains, which is in the north wall of chancel, and this has lost its lintel (Fig. 110). The clear opening was 3 feet by 10½ inches, with, as stated, a square head. The window has an internal and external splay, each widening to 1 foot 10½ inches. This form is peculiar. There was probably a frame, fixed in the narrow part of the opening, containing glass. In this wall, just east of the window and lower, is a square ambry, 3 feet high by 2 feet 8 inches wide, and 1 foot 11 inches in recess. The use of so large an ambry is not evident. The bottom of it is only 2 feet above the floor. There is no appearance of its having had doors. In the north-east part of the nave of Enhallow Chapel is a similar recess, and one in the same position as this in the chapel on the Brough of Deerness. It is possible, but not probable, that these were Easter sepulchres. In the Kirk of the Ness, North Yell, is a larger one. Of the south wall of the chancel so little remains that nothing can be stated as to window piscina or sedile.

It is remarkable that the floor was originally level to the end of the apse, and no elevation given to the altar, which was probably at the chord of the apse; but in later times they built a reredos which _blocked off_ the apse, and then they appear to have made steps to the altar. Some part of the altar remains. It appears to have been 4 feet 1 inch by 2 feet 7 inches. Possibly the reredos did not reach many feet high, so that the upper part of the apse appeared over it.

As there were no buttresses, it is not likely that the chancel was vaulted. The roof was probably of tie-beam construction, or of rafters coupled half-way up, as in cottages, and covered as the nave roof. It is probable that the apse was vaulted, and the arch into it may be conjectured to have been 10 feet high, and semicircular, and to have formed part of a plain vault, as at Orphir and St. Margaret’s Chapel at Edinburgh. The ground plan is somewhat in the form of a horse-shoe internally. Probably there was a small window in east end, and this must have been at a lower level than the one on the north.

The interior of the nave is of the proportion of the vesica piscis. The width of the chancel is less than of the nave by the thickness of the side walls. The interior of the chancel is square. It is stated in Barry[133] to have been dedicated to St. Peter, and to have been a place of pilgrimage. The writer was informed that many years ago a skewer was found, with a skull, outside the chapel. This was probably the pin of a winding sheet.

There can be little hesitation in assigning this church to about 1100. It is recorded that Earl Thorfin built Christ’s Church in Birsay, and that the body of St. Magnus was buried there. It appears probable that if St. Peter’s had been built as long after his death as his canonisation, it would have been dedicated to him. Even if it had been built in memory of St. Magnus before his canonisation, and dedicated to some other saint, probably the dedication would have been changed after his canonisation. As it is recorded that Thorfin built Christ’s Church, it is probable that if he had, St. Peter’s would have been recorded also. It is more probable that it was built by his second son, Erlend, the father of St. Magnus.

This church bears considerable resemblance to Old Bewick, Northumberland, figured in Muir’s “Sketch”; to Moccas and Kilpeck in Herefordshire, and to St. Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh.

Mr. Leask of Boardhouse, in 1867, made an excavation in the church, to determine, if possible, whether foundations exist of the walls supposed to have enclosed the west sides of the circular recesses. He found none and found plaster on the north wall of the nave, where the supposed wall should have joined. Possibly the supposed walls were taken down during the time the chapel was used. He found in the north wall of the nave, at 5 feet west of the angle of the recess, an entrance 2 feet 4 inches wide. The position is very unusual. Planned 1866.

CHURCH AT ORPHIR, ORKNEY.

This highly interesting fragment stands near the east end of the parish church, and probably the reason why it has not obtained that notice which it deserves is, that the larger and most interesting part of it was destroyed before 1758, to build or enlarge the present parish church. It consisted originally of a circular nave, and apsidal chancel added to its east part. (Fig. 111.) The chancel remains, but only 9 feet on each side of it of the circular nave. Fortunately we have a short record of its size and form in Sinclair’s _Statistical Accounts_, xix. 417, quoted in Wilson, _Prehistoric Annals_, 598. It is there stated:--“In the churchyard are the remains of an ancient building called the Girthhouse, to which great antiquity is ascribed. It is a rotundo, 18 feet in diameter and 20 feet high, open at top; and on the east side is a vaulted concavity, where probably the altar stood, with a slit in the wall to admit the light; two-thirds of it have been taken down to repair the parish church,” &c. In the translation of Torfœus by the Rev. A. Pope is this note by the translator (p. 108), who visited Orphir in 1758:--“The temple of Orphir, or Gerth-house, was a rotundo 22 feet in diameter, and 61 feet perpendicular wall above ground. The cupola, with the open for the light, was of an elegant cast, and the light was all from the open, and lighted the house sufficiently. There was a small slit in the east side for light to the priest, who stood in a niche elegantly done. The work was very firm; and though at that time there was a breach made in order to get stones to repair the parish kirk, yet the stones crumbled to pieces before they could be loosed,” &c.

In the _Orcadian_, July 1861, is an account of this church by Mr. G. Petrie. It is there stated that the present parish church was erected in 1829. (See also his notice of the ruins, in the _Archæological Journal_, 1861, No. 71, p. 226-230.)

It is evident that the east wall of the parish church could not have co-existed with the old nave, for the new church stands on part of it.

From these several statements we must infer that part of the old church was pulled down before 1758 to build or enlarge, not to repair, the parish church, and possibly a farther portion pulled down in 1829.

We must understand the “cupola” to be a conical roof, and “the open for the light” to be a glazed lantern on it, which, however, was probably not original. (Fig. 112.) “Open at top,” in Sinclair, must refer to this lantern. The framework of it must have been of wood, as at Ely.

The curvature of the two parts of the nave wall still remaining gives an interior diameter of about 19 feet, thus corroborating the diameters given by Pope and Sinclair. Neither of these persons had seen the church perfect; and the differences in the measures given by them show that their informants did not speak from exact data. The “61 feet perpendicular wall” is a gross mistake either of printer, or translator, or his informant. Even the “20 feet high” seems over the mark, though this may be a loose approximation to the height of the side walls.

Supposing the preceding conjectures as to the shape of the roof to be correct, the top of the “fleche” surmounting the lantern would be about 40 feet. Then, supposing that Pope was told that the height was 41 feet, and the height of the side walls 20 feet, he might have added them together.

The diameter was less open to error than the height. One writer, however, might give the outer diameter and the other the inner.

It is built of yellow Orphir freestone. The nave walls are 3 feet 9 inches thick, well built; and probably the entrance was at the west, as in the other round churches.

It is highly improbable that Pope is right in stating that “the light was all from the open”--that is, that there were no windows in the nave walls. Probably there were four single lights.

The chancel, which is little more than the apse, is 7 feet 2 inches wide and 7 feet 9 inches deep, or long, with wall 2 feet 8 inches thick. The arch into it is semicircular, and forms part of a plain unribbed vault, as at St. Margaret’s Chapel at Edinburgh. (See Fig. 111.) The impost of the vault arch is 6 feet 5 inches above what appears to have been the floor, and the top, consequently, 10 feet 6 inches high. Outside the vault was originally probably a solid stone roof, the apex of which was about 14 feet

from the floor. This height (supposing also that there was a step at the chancel arch) would oblige the walls of the nave to be about 15 feet high. The chancel has no buttresses. There is one window in the chancel, in the east end, 2 feet 5 inches by 10½ inches clear, opening with jambs splayed inward to 1 foot 8 inches wide. (Fig. 113.) The outer edges are chamfered, and the head semicircular. The impost is at the same level as of vault. It has a groove for glass.

A stone lying down appears to be part of a stoup.

The exterior width of the chancel is half the exterior width of the nave.

On the south side of the nave is the trace of a building in the form of a parallelogram, and other indications of buildings. Pope states that before his visit in 1758, large foundations had been found in digging earth for the Bow of Orphir, near the Gerth-house.

The “four round churches” of Britain are--Cambridge, consecrated in 1101; Northampton, probably shortly before 1115; Maplestead, 1118; and London, 1185.[134] To these must be added the small Norman chapel in Ludlow Castle, and we may safely add, as a sixth, Orphir. The church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem was the type of all, and the Crusades were the means of importing the form into Britain. In conjecturing the date of Orphir, we may take into account that there was a palace of the Earl Haco (son of Paul I.) at Orphir, according to Torfœus. He went to the Holy Land and back, and died in 1103. The same writer describes the palace of Earl Paul II. at Orphir, and states that a temple stood opposite the wall of the palace. This earl died about 1136. If this statement is to be believed, this must be the church mentioned, and hence we get 1090-1137 as the limits within which this church was built.

Earl Ronald founded the cathedral about 1138, and soon after went to the Holy Land, accompanied, of course, by some of his high officers. He died in 1158. We may fairly conclude that this round church had some connection with one of these expeditions. As Earl Ronald needed all his money for the cathedral, we cannot suppose that he had any hand in building Orphir; but it is not improbable that some one of his wealthier followers built it, and we may, from the dates of the other churches and these facts, fix on 1090-1160 as limits of the date of its erection.

In the Edinburgh Museum is a stone article, presented by D. Balfour, Esq., found at this church. It is circular, 4¼ inches diameter, ¾ inch thick, with a small square hole in centre. Its use is not evident. Planned 1855.

CHURCHES IN SHETLAND.

THESE ARE ALL CHANCEL CHURCHES EXCEPT CULBINSBROUGH, WHICH IS CRUCIFORM.

CANONS ASHBY, _Feb. 21, 1868_.

SIR,--Last year you inserted in the _Orcadian_ accounts by me of
some of the ruined churches in Orkney; I now send you accounts of
some of those in Shetland. Every year destroys some portion of
these ruins, and of the most complete in Shetland a considerable
portion has fallen since I made the plans of it in 1855. Though the
owners of these humble ruins do not value them, they have a value
with historians and antiquaries as examples of the ecclesiastical
architecture of the North in its least elaborate state, and
evidences of the religious condition of the islands in past times.
We find no St. Magnus and no Egilsey in Shetland; but still the
ruins which exist there are worthy of record.

The number of churches which once existed in Shetland is
extraordinary. For instance, Unst, which is about 6 miles by 3
miles, had at least twenty-four. Of most of the Shetland churches
every trace but a name or a tradition is gone; of others only a
heap of stones remains; of others a few fragments of wall enable us
to make approximate plans, and one only is tolerably complete. A
little labour with pick and spade would enable us, in many
instances, to determine more about them than is possible in their
present state. No people ought to be more impressed with religion
and the uncertainty of life than the Shetlanders. The effects of
the storms on sea and land, the terrible tideways among the
islands, and the barren nature and exposed position of much of the
land, make life a continued struggle for safety or for food.
Doubtless the tradition concerning nearly every church was true of
some--that they were built as thankofferings for escape from an
ocean grave. The churches of which I send an account are
Culbinsbrough, Bressay, Noss, West Sandwick, Yell, the Ness (Yell),
Uya, and Norwick, Haroldswick, Kirkaby, and Colvidale, all in Unst.

I have to acknowledge the assistance of Mr. J. T. Irvine, formerly
of Yell, and of Mr. Sandison of Uya, and to thank many friends in
Shetland for hospitality and information.--I remain, your obedient
servant,

H. DRYDEN.

CHAPEL OF NOSS, BRESSAY.

This ruin is near the sound which separates Noss from Bressay, on an elevation of about 20 feet or 30 feet above the water. The dedication is unknown.

It consisted of a nave and chancel (Fig. 114), of which only a fragment

of the north wall of the chancel remains, about 4 feet or 5 feet high. The nave was about 18 feet 6 inches by 14 feet, and the chancel about 12 feet east and west, by 10 feet north and south, as shown by the ridge in the turf.

Nothing certain can be stated of the door or chancel arch. Planned in 1852.

KIRKABY, WESTING, UNST.

This is in the west part of the island, in a walled churchyard, about 80 feet north and south, and 60 feet east and west. By remains outside the south-east part of the wall, it is evident that the church has been

built on the ruins of a brough or other ancient building. The dedication is unknown. The church consisted of a nave (Fig. 115) about 13 feet 9 inches by 12 feet, and a chancel about 10 feet by 7 feet inside. The walls were about 2 feet 9 inches thick. The chancel arch was equal in width to the chancel. About 2 feet in height of the north wall of the nave and of the north wall of the chancel remains, and traces of the rest sufficient to approximate to the size. The entrance was probably in the west end. The chancel inside equals in length the diagonal of the square of the width.

Plan by Mr. J. T. Irvine, 1863.

MEAL COLVIDALE, UNST.

This is in the south-east part of the island, in a yard about 112 feet east and west by 85 feet north and south. (Fig. 116.) The dedication is unknown. The nave is about 12 feet by 11 feet inside; the chancel 7 feet 9 inches by 7 feet 6 inches inside; and the walls 3 feet thick.

About 2 feet in height of the north wall of the nave, and about the same of the north wall of the chancel, and a fragment of the interior face of the south wall of the chancel remain. Traces indicate the outline. The nave is very short. The chancel arch was equal in width to the chancel. The door was probably in the west end.

Plan by Mr. J. T. Irvine in 1863.

ST. JOHN’S KIRK, NORWICK, UNST.

This is in the north-east part of the island, on the south side of a bay. It is dedicated to St. John.

It consists of nave (Fig. 117), about 26 feet 6 inches and 13 feet 6 inches inside, and chancel about 16 feet by 8 feet 8 inches. The walls are 2 feet 4 inches thick. Only about 2 feet in height of the central portion remains, that is about 12 feet 6 inches of the east part of the nave, and about 10 feet of the west part of the chancel. The chancel arch was equal in width to the chancel. The doorway was probably in the west end.

In the churchyard are several crosses and coped coffins of rude construction. Some also at Sandwick, Unst. The nave equal in length

inside to double its width. Chancel equal inside to vesica piscis.

Plan by Mr. J. T. Irvine in 1863.

When Low visited it, it was nearly entire, and the altar remained.

CHURCH AT UYA.

The island of Uya, or Uyea, is not more than 2½ miles by 1 mile across. It lies to the west of Unst. The ruin is near the east shore. The dedication is unknown.

It consists of a nave and a building like a chancel to the west of the nave (Fig. 118), and lies true east and west.

About 7 feet 6 inches high on an average of the side walls remain. The material is the grey whinstone of the island, and the blocks from 4 feet by 1 foot by 1 foot downwards.

The nave is 16 feet 9 inches by 13 feet inside. The east wall of the nave is 3 feet 6 inches thick, and the others now vary from 2 feet 10 inches to 3 feet 1 inch. The side walls vary from 6 feet to 7 feet 6 inches in height. No window remains, but probably there was one on the south side.

In the east end is an arch or doorway (Fig. 119), 2 feet 2 inches wide, with parallel unrebated jambs, and a semicircular head of one rectangular

order, with simple unmoulded projections for caps. The arch is formed by overlapping the stones as in the cells of broughs. At the west end is an opening 2 feet 6 inches wide, of similar character, except having a ruder arch and no caps. Above this arch, 6 feet 4 inches in height of the gable remains. Through this is the west apartment, resembling a chancel, which is 10 feet east and west by 10 feet 2 inches north and south, and has walls 2 feet 3 inches thick.

There is an entrance in the north wall near west end, apparently not original. The west gable is 9 feet 6 inches high. The eaves appear to have been 8 feet above the ground. In the south wall of the nave, and near the west end of it, is a rough stone stoup built into the wall. (See Fig. 118.)

This little chapel is a puzzle, and has been mentioned before under Enhallow, Orkney. Is the apartment in the west original, and if so, what is it?

It is in the same position as the adjunct at Enhallow. If original, it probably was a sacristy. The writer, in taking the plans in 1855, did not observe on the spot that this adjunct was on the west, which was not noticed till the plans were laid down at a distance, and no opportunity has occurred since of minutely inspecting the building. Muir (_Eccles. Notes_) is incorrect in his plan.

The east archway (entrance) appears original, yet too small for a chancel arch. Supposing the adjunct on the west was original, and a sacristy, and that the east arch is original, it must have been a chancel arch, and there must have been a chancel, now gone.

The position of the stoup seems to indicate that the arch from the nave into the west adjunct is the original west entrance, and that the adjunct is not original. There are no other church arches in the islands formed as these are by overlapping stones.

In the churchyard are some rude crosses, formed of slabs 2½ inches thick. These were placed upright at the foot or head of graves. One is about 2 feet high, the limbs of the cross being 7½ inches wide and pattee. The limbs of another are 8½ inches wide.

KIRK OF NESS, NORTH YELL.

This church is at the north-east angle of Yell, near the base of the ness bounding Cullavoe. The land is flat hereabouts, and near the sea level.

It is the most complete of the old churches of Shetland, and is said to have been dedicated to Olave or Olaf, the great warrior saint of the North. It is enclosed in a walled yard about 110 feet by 100 feet. (Fig. 120.)

It consists of nave and chancel, with bell-cot on the west gable, and lies nearly true east and west. The roof is gone, but the church was used down to 1750. (Fig. 121.)

The material is the grey stone of the district, placed at random, some of the blocks being very large, and the interstices filled with small stones.

The nave is 20 feet 5 inches by 14 feet 10 inches inside. (Fig. 122.) The west end is 3 feet 6 inches or 3 feet 8 inches thick; the north and south walls about 3 feet 3 inches. The side walls are 11 feet 10 inches or 12 feet high from the floor. In the west end is a square-headed doorway,

2 feet 7 inches wide and 5 feet 4 inches high externally, with rectangular jambs rebated for a door. (Fig. 123.) The interior width is 3 feet 5 inches. The internal head is also square. Holes for the insertion of a wooden bar for securing the door remain in the north and south jambs. In the south wall, and

close to the west end of it, is another square-headed doorway, externally 1 foot 9 inches wide, and 5 feet 9 inches high, with internal head square as of west doorway, and bar-holes as before. (Fig. 124.) In the north wall is a square-headed window, of which the west side and the top are gone, owing to the west portion of the north wall having fallen down. This window is nearer the west than the east angle of the nave. In the south wall (Fig. 125) is a square-headed window, 3 feet by 1 foot 1 inch externally, splayed inwards to 3 feet 4 inches by 2 feet 2 inches. The external angles of the jambs are not chamfered, nor are there grooves or rebates for glass. (See account of Egilsey.) The top of the sill is 7 inches above the level of the impost of the chancel arch. This window is nearer the east than the west angle of the nave, and its position shows that the south door is original. At 9 feet above the top of the west

doorway (inside) is a square-headed window (see Fig. 123), 3 feet by 1 foot 1 inch externally, splayed inward to 3 feet 2 inches by 2 feet 3 inches. At 2 feet 2 inches above this (outside) is another opening, 2 feet 4 inches wide, for a bell. The west face of the bell-cot is 7 feet 10 inches wide. The top is gone, but about 2 feet 3 inches in height of the jambs remain. The jambs are parallel both ways, and about 1 foot 6 inches thick from east to west. The ridge of the roof was about 3 feet higher than the bottom of the opening for the bell, and whether this opening originally came through to the inside of the church is doubtful. Possibly this bell-cot is not original. The ridge of the roof was about 24 feet 7 inches above the floor under the chancel arch.

The chancel is 13 feet by 11 feet 3 inches inside. The north and south walls are 3 feet 2 inches, and the east one 3 feet 6 inches thick. The chancel arch (Figs. 123 and 126) has no projecting jambs, but springs from

the chancel walls at 5 feet 7 inches above the floor, and the feet of the arch are set 3 inches back on the jambs at the impost, as at Wyre and Linton in Orkney. (See account of church on Brough of Birsay.) The spring is 3 inches higher on the south than on the north. There is no cap. The arch is semicircular, and consists of one rectangular order 3 feet thick. The stones of the arch average 1 foot 6 inches in length, but are thin. The top of the gable is 19 feet above the impost. The abutments of this arch were not sufficient, and the nave and chancel walls have spread, and a considerable fissure has taken place at the crown of the arch. In the north wall, at the east corner, is a square-headed window, 2 feet by 1 foot externally, splayed inward to 2 feet 5 inches by 2 feet. In the south wall, exactly opposite this window, is a similar one, 1 foot 7 inches by 1 foot. (See Figs. 124 and 125.) The top of the external opening of this window is 7 inches below the south impost of the chancel arch. The top of the window on the north is 3 inches lower than on the south--the same difference as in the two springs of the chancel arch. In the west angle of the nave and chancel is a similar window, 1 foot 9 inches

by 1 foot externally, and splayed as the others. This is at a trifle higher level than the last mentioned window.

Between these two windows on the south is a sedile (see Fig. 125), 4 feet 7 inches high by 2 feet 1 inch wide, and 1 foot 8 inches deep, with a segmental head. The bottom is 1 foot 8 inches above the floor. It is evident that there was no step in the chancel, and no step at the altar.

On the north side, a little west of the window, is a square-headed recess (see Fig. 125), 3 feet 4½ inches by 2 feet, and 1 foot 11 inches recessed--probably an ambry, possibly an eastern sepulchre.

In the east gable, at 8 feet 9 inches above the level of the impost of the chancel arch, is a window about 1 foot 3 inches by 11 inches, splayed inward. The top of the gable is now 16 feet 9 inches above the level of the impost of chancel arch, but was originally a little higher--probably about 23 feet--above the level of the floor at the chancel arch.

What is the date of this church? The chancel is larger than of any of the churches described, and has a sedile and, perhaps, Easter sepulchre. The chancel arch resembles Egilsey, but is not part of a vault. It has

the peculiarity at the impost. The doors and windows are flat-headed. The former have rebates, which is not the primitive form, though Egilsey has them--the latter have the early form of jambs. Taking all the points, it may be assigned with probability to the fourteenth century.

The interior length of the nave is equal to the diagonal of the square of the width. The length of the chancel is that of an equilateral triangle on the east end of the nave. The height of chancel walls is equal to the width of the chancel.

According to Mr. Irvine there was, a few years ago, a rude cross gravestone here, like those at Uya.

A bell, which in 1856 was lying on the shore at Cullyavoe, once hung at this church. It is said to have been obtained from a wrecked ship, but is evidently a church bell. It has an inscription in Dutch, and the date 1694. The late Mr. Irvine of Midbrigg had a small bell, said to have come from this church. It had no inscription.

Since 1856 the chancel arch and gable over it have fallen.

The church was surrounded with an enclosing wall.

CHURCH AT CULBINSBROUGH, BRESSAY.

This ruin is on the north-east coast of Bressay, on a small low promontory. It is enclosed in a “garth” or churchyard, the wall of which is ruinous, and which appears not to have been used for many years.

The dedication is not known. It originally consisted of a nave, north and south transepts, and chancel, and lies about west by north and east by south. (Fig. 127.) There remain now only the lower portion of the north transept, lower portions of the chancel, and a small fragment of the east wall of the south transept. It is built of the grey stone of the locality in rude courses of moderate-sized stones. On the north side of the nave, and at the west end, is a modern wall about 3 feet high, but as this is on the foundation of the original north wall, it is probable that it marks the extent westward of the old nave. Assuming this, the nave was 21 feet 6 inches by 10 feet inside. The walls were probably 2 feet 3 inches thick. The position of the doorway is not evident, but probably was in the west end. Traces of the south wall remain. The north transept is 12 feet north and south by 8 feet 6 inches east and west inside. The north wall is 2 feet 3 inches thick, and the east and west walls 2 feet thick. The north end is 9 feet high, and retains the window, which is square-headed (Fig. 128), 1 foot 9 inches high, and 1 foot 3 inches

wide outside. It is slightly splayed inwards. The sill is 5 feet above the present ground, but the original level of the floor has not been ascertained.

The height of the eaves and of the original apex of gable cannot be ascertained, but it is probable that the eaves of the whole church were not more than about 7 feet high, and the ridges of roofs about 12 feet high.

The chancel is 6 feet east and west and 10 feet north and south inside. The walls 2 feet 7 inches to 3 feet thick. About 5 feet 6 inches in height of the east gable remains. The sill of the east window appears to have been 4 feet 7 inches above the ground outside--about the same level as the window in the north transept. The width and height of the east window cannot be ascertained as the gable is gone. Probably there were no arches at the cross. The proportion on which it was formed is not evident; but these proportions may be observed in it. The interior of the chancel is in the proportion of the vesica piscis. The length of the north transept is twice that of the chancel, and half that of the nave. The interior has been used as a burial-place since the disuse of the church, and two altar tombs remain in the nave. One is without inscription, but the other is of a Dutch captain who died in 1636. The inscription is in Dutch. This is the only cross church in Orkney or Shetland of which any remains exist, and on that account is of importance. In this churchyard was found, about 1850, a very interesting tombstone, which has been presented to the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland by the Rev. Dr. Hamilton of Bressay. This stone stood erect. It is 4 feet high, 1 foot 4½ inches wide at top, and 11 inches wide at bottom, and 1¾ inch thick. Both faces are ornamented with carving in low relief. On one face the upper portion contains a square of interlaced work, within which is a circle containing an interlaced cross. Below are two dogs, head to head, with their mouths open, and tails curled over their backs. Below them are two bishops, face to face, with low mitres, and holding pastoral staves. They resemble the bishops of the Norse chessmen. On the other face, in the upper part, is a circle of interlaced work. In the spandrils above it are two nondescript animals, with their mouths open, apparently eating a man--one the feet, the other the head. Below the circle are two bishops as on the other face, between them a man on horseback. Below there is a nondescript four-legged animal with its tail over its back--possibly a lion or dog. Other small spaces are filled with interlaced work. On the two edges is an inscription in Ogham characters, which has been the source of much discussion; but the stone is somewhat chipped, and the decipherers have not had a good chance. Amongst many translations is this--on one edge, “The cross of Natdods daughter here;” on the other edge, “Benres of the sons of the Druid here.” Probably this stone is of the ninth or beginning of the tenth century.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

There is no cross church in Orkney, and only one in Shetland.

In Ireland there is no circular, octagon, or cross church, except, of course, the cathedrals and some monastic churches.

There is no aisle in Orkney or Shetland.

There are no plinths or basements to any of these churches.