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Lewis, Ness, Teampull Pheadair

Burial Ground (Medieval), Church (Medieval)

Site Name Lewis, Ness, Teampull Pheadair

Classification Burial Ground (Medieval), Church (Medieval)

Canmore ID 4434

Site Number NB56SW 2

NGR NB 50850 63830

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/4434

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Western Isles
  • Parish Barvas
  • Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
  • Former District Western Isles
  • Former County Ross And Cromarty

Archaeology Notes ( - 1969)

NB56SW 2 50850 63830

(NB 508 638) Teampull Pheadair (NR) (In Ruins)

The Object Name Book describes the church as 'The ruins of a church situated on the margin of the Amhuinn Shuainaboist. Attached to it is a grave-yard which is the only one in the district of Ness. Three of its walls are still standing, but the fourth has partly fallen in. Formerly it was the parish Church of Ness and became a ruin in 1829. It is said to have been built in 1756; and to have derived its name from its first pastor; but when first erected is unkown'..

(Name Book 1852)

The church of 'St Peter in Shanabost' (M Martin 1934) or Teampull Pheadair (RCAHMS 1928) was 63ft long (D MacGibbon and T Ross 1896-7). The remains are those of a rectangular building oriented E by S and W

by N. The greater part of the western gable is all that remains, the wall being 3ft thick. 'About the height of the wall head is a scarcement of 4 or 5ins in width, and two putlog holes appear in the gable above. In the centre is a widely splayed window 3ft 4ins high and 6ins broad outside ...'.(RCAHMS 1928)

(D MacGibbon and T Ross 1896-7; RCAHMS 1928; M Martin 1934).

Teampull Pheadair, at NB 5084 6382, survives as a rectangular hollow oriented E-W, choked with vegetation and bounded by the greater part of the east gable (not the west, as described by the Commission), c. 5.0m of the N wall, and the footings of most of the south wall.

It measures 19.0m by 6.0m externally, with walls 0.8m thick. Two late grave enclosures are built against the east gable and the surviving part of the north wall.

The burial ground is still in occasional use.

Revised at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (R L) 13 June 1969.

Activities

Field Visit (14 July 1914)

Teampull Pheadair (‘Peter’), Swanibost.

In a kirk yard on the right bank of the Swanibost River, about 400 yards from its mouth and 7/8 mile north-west of the township of Swanibost, are the remains of Teampull Pheadair, which has been a rectangular building orientated east by south and west by north. The greater part of the western [sic] gable is all that remains, the wall being 3 feet thick. About the height of the wall head is a scarcement of 4 or 5 inches in width, and two putlog holes appear in the gable above. In the centre is a widely splayed window 3 feet 4 inches high and 6 inches broad outside and 4 feet 8 inches high and 3 feet 4 inches wide inside.

RCAHMS 1928, visited 14 July 1914.

OS map ref, Lewis iii

Reference (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. This chapel and burial ground was surveyed in detail.

R Barrowman 2005 (RCAHMS MS2384)

R Barrowman and J Hooper 2006 (RCAHMS MS 2626)

Note

Title: Chapel-sites on the Isle of Lewis: Results of the Lewis Coastal Chapel-sites Survey

Journal: SCOTTISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTERNET REPORTS (e-ISSN: 2056-7421)

Author: Barrowman, R C

Publisher: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh

Date: 2020

MCE (2023): Reviewed as part of the GAPR. Publication was completed in 2020. Open Access publication with SAIR. Publication grant-aided by HES.

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