Building record MAB15223 - ST FINAN'S CHAPEL

Remains of chapel, dedicated to St Finan (Finnan/Finian), and enclosure visible as turf covered stony banks and walls.

Remains of chapel, dedicated to St Finan (Finnan/Finian), and enclosure visible as turf covered stony banks and walls. The chapel is a rectangular structure, aligned east-west and measuring 11.3m by 6.9m. Its walls are visible mostly as stony banks measuring 2m in thickness and 0.6m in height. The chapel building sits within a sub-rectangular raised enclosure measuring 26m from east to west by 22m transversely, defined by a bank of boulders and rubble measuring 2m thick by 1.2m high. The interior of the enclosure rises 0.5m above the level of the surrounding land. Although no headstones or other markers are visible, this enclosure is almost certainly a burial ground. The first written references to the chapel appear in the early 18th century, but the chapel is considered to be the likely site of Egilsmenhythok (later Abersnithick/Abersnithack), a property of the Culdee monastery of Monymusk from at least 1210 AD, and the egles (church) place name suggests an ecclesiastical origin before 800 AD. A geophysical survey (NJ61NE0173), aerial photography and excavation (NJ61NE0174) show evidence of a possible outer enclosure wall .

WATSON, WJ, 1926, CELTIC PLACE NAMES OF SCOTLAND, 285-6 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2004.

SIMPSON, W. D., 1935, THE CELTIC CHURCH IN SCOTLAND, 88 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1663.

Record last edited

Jul 15 2024 2:00PM