St Mary's Chapel (Wyre)
St. Mary's Chapel (also St. Peter's Chapel or Peter's Kirk) is a ruined church on the Orkney island of Wyre . It is on the Rousay side of the island, at the foot of the hill on which Cubbie Roo's Castle stands. The rectangular building dates from the middle or second half of the 12th century. The chapel could have been built by Kolbein Hrúga (Cubbie Roo), mentioned in the Orkneyinga saga , who came to Orkney from Sunnfjord in Norway in 1142 , or by his son Bjarni, who became bishop of the Orkney Islands in 1188.
The Romanesque nave measures 5.85 × 3.95 m. It has a round-arched west portal and a round arch at the transition to the choir , which measures 2.4 × 2.2 m. Destroyed since 1791, it was cleared and rebuilt in the late 19th century at the instigation of General Burroughs. The walls, made of local stone, were built with lime mortar, are almost completely preserved and about 2.4 m high. The building was plastered inside and out.
The south wall of the nave had dangerous bulges to the outside and threatened to collapse. After the wall was taken up, some of the upper rows of stones were removed. There were difficulties in determining the exact line between the original masonry from the late 19th century and the restoration in the 1930s. The burial ground next to the chapel has been expanded and is still in use.
See also
literature
- James B. Craven: History of the Church in Orkney. From the Introduction of Christianity to 1558. Peace, Kirkwall 1901.
Web links
Coordinates: 59 ° 7 '11 " N , 2 ° 58' 28.9" W.