Alternative Names Shrine Of St Catan; Teampull Mhealastadh
Site type BURIAL GROUND, CHURCH, STONE
Canmore ID 3981
Site Number NA92SE 1
NGR NA 9897 2421
Council WESTERN ISLES
Parish UIG
Former Region WESTERN ISLES ISLANDS AREA
Former District WESTERN ISLES
Former County ROSS AND CROMARTY

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Archaeological Notes

NA92SE 1 9902 2421, 9897 2421 and 9900 2418

See also NA92SE 3.

(Area NA 990 242) Grave Yard (NAT).
(NA 990 2418) Stone (NAT)
OS 6" map, (1965)

There was a shrine of St Catan at Maelista (as opposed to the nunnery at NA92SE 3)
W C Mackenzie 1919

(NA 9902 2421) The foundations of an oblong church, 25' by 15'8" over walls 2'8" thick and orientated south of east and north of west, lie about 200 yds west of Mealista farm-house. A small burying ground lies between the church and the sea.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 1914.

'Teampull Mhealastadh' is an old grave yard only occasionally used. There has never been a church or any kind of meeting house in or about this place, as far as can be ascertained. 'Clach Mhor an Teampull' is an irregular stone 9' high by 12' wide in the grave-yard. 'It is of no note except its size'.
Name Book 1928.

The graveyard, unenclosed and no longer in use, is at NA 9897 2421. Unable to locate any remains of the church described by RCAHMS in an area which has been utilized by wartime military structures.
No further information regarding the 'Shrine of St Catan'.
Visited by OS (R L) 30 June 1969.

The footings of rectangular buildings are visible at this location, on the edge of the promontory to the W of the radar station (NA92SE 18). However, they are oriented from NNW to SSE and probably represent the remains of buildings associated with the similar arrangements in the bay to the S.
Information from RCAHMS (SMDG) 25 February 2005

The footings of two buildings were noted, one rectangular in shape, which has small upstanding stones within it, the other more square is immediately to the S. Both are orientated NNW to SSE.
The small graveyard contains at least three large graveslabs on which no inscriptions were noted, probably due to erosion, one more recent graveslab at the NW corner of the area, on which an incription does survive, but of which most is unintelligible except a very small carved cross and several rows of small upstanding stones.
There is one centrally placed setting of stones measuring about 1 to 2m in diameter.
Visited by RCAHMS (DE, CS, SW), 3 August 2005

This chapel site was included in a research project to identify the chapel sites of Lewis and surrounding islands. The Lewis Coastal Chapel-sites survey recorded 37 such sites.
R Barrowman 2005 (RCAHMS MS 2384)

A detailed topographic survey was undertaken in 2005, along with the township of Tigh nan Cailleachan Dubha, to the SE (see NA92SE 3).
R Barrowman and J Hooper 2006 (RCAHMS MS 2626)

Barrowman, R C (2005a) 'Lewis Coastal Chapel Sites, Western Isles (various parishes), survey', Discovery Excav Scot, vol.6
Page(s): 143

Mackenzie, W C (1919) The book of the Lews: the story of a Hebridean isle', Paisley
Page(s): 137-8 Held at RCAHMS D.14.2.LEW

Ordnance Survey (Name Book) Object Name Books of the Ordnance Survey
Page(s): Book No. 78, 64-5 Held at RCAHMS Ref