caithness-1911/05_166

Transcription

INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS, ETC., IN COUNTY OF CAITHNESS. -- [Page] 89

PARISH OF OLRIG.

329. Mound, "Clindrag Tulloch," Hill of Clindrag. - On the top
of the Hill of Clindrag towards its E. end is a small grass-covered
mound across the top of which runs a stone wall. It has a diameter
of some 40' and an elevation of 4'. Possibly it is a cairn, but there
is no surface indication of its character.
O.S.M., CAITH., vi. Visited, 31st August 1910.

330. Mounds. - On the hill of Olrig is a natural mound known as
the "Gallow Hill"; and near Hilliclay another natural hillock, bearing
the name of "Sysa," is associated with the fairy lore of the district.
O.S.M., CAITH., xii. Visited, 31st August, 1910.

SITES.

The O.S. maps indicate sites as under:-
331. St Coomb's Kirk, Links of Old Tain. -- O.S.M., CAITH., vi.
332. Chapel, Durran. -- O.S.M., CAITH., xii.
333. Nunnery, S. of Murkle Bay. -- O.S.M., CAITH., vi.
334. "Cairn of Hattell,"  1/2 m. NW. of Castlehill . -- O.S.M., CAITH., vi.
335. Sculptured Stone, Castlehill. -- O.S.M., CAITH., vi.
336. Standing-Stone, 1/4 m. N. of Mains of Murkle. -- O.S.M., CAITH., vi.
337. Kitchen Midden, Shelley Hill, Castletown. -- O.S.M., CAITH., vi.

PARISH OF REAY.

ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURES.

338. St Mary's Chapel, Lybster. - Situated on the W. side of Cross-
kirk Bay, at a short distance back from the edge of the rocks, is the
ruined chapel of St Mary's. It consists of a nave and chancel both
roofless, and the latter a reconstruction on the old foundations used
as a burial-place, separated from the nave by a solid wall pierced in
the centre by a doorway. The nave measures 17' 10" from E. to W.
by 10' 11" from N. to S. interiorly. The walls, which are built of the
whinstone of the district in irregular courses from 3" to 10" deep, are
about 4' in thickness in the nave and 2' 6" in the chancel. In the
nave the N. wall, which is still about its original height, is 8' in
elevation above the ground level. The S. wall is partly broken but
has still a height of from 6' to 7'. The W. wall stands to a height
of 11' 8" and the E. to about 15'. In the W. end is an entrance, now
closed up, 2' 3" wide at bottom, 1' 9" wide at the top, and 3' 11" high.
There is no trace of a window. The entrance to the chancel is 2' 9"
wide at the bottom, 2' 1" at the top, and about the same height as the
doorway. The chancel measures 11' 3" from E. to W. by 10' 9"
from N. to S. The W. wall of the nave, on the exterior, is in rather
a ruinous state and the upper part considerably broken down.
This chapel is much the oldest ecclesiastical structure remaining
in Caithness, and may possibly date from the 12th century. Plans
and elevations of it, prepared by Sir Henry Dryden in 1871, are
preserved in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in
Edinburgh, and are here represented (fig. 18.) In the "Description
of the Parish of Reay" contained in Macfarlane's Geographical Collec-