St Tredwell's Chapel
St Tredwell's Chapel is a ruined former pilgrimage site on a 4.5 m high hill on a small peninsula in Lake St Tredwell's Loch on the Orkney island of Papa Westray (or Papay) in Scotland .
The remnants of the late medieval round wall, which measures around 35 meters, lie on an Iron Age crannóg connected to the land , including a basement that belongs to a brochure from the Iron Age . The thickness of the walls of the chapel indicates an important facility.
According to legend, Triduana (north. Trøllhaena) or Tredwell was one of the "holy virgins" who accompanied Boniface in 710 AD . The Pict king Nechtan mac Der-Ilei fell in love with Triduana and praised the beauty of her eyes. She sent them to him impaled on a thorn. St Tredwell was revered in Scotland, and the lakes and fountains associated with her were renowned for curing eye diseases. Pilgrims from all over Orkney traveled to Papay and sought healing in St Tredwell's Loch.
The chapel was examined by Sir H. Dryden in 1870 when its walls were up to 6.0 meters high. The interior, over 6.0 m long and about 4.4 m wide, was cleared of rubble by William Traill in 1880. He found 30 copper coins from the period from Charles II to George III under the chapel . (1660 to 1820) together with a female skeleton.
Immediately outside the west wall, W. Traill found the approximately ten meter long basement with several vents , a side chamber and a round building. Finds from this structure including a stone ball belong to the holdings of the Tankerness House Museum . The opening is blocked by rubble today. It was likely part of the Late Iron Age complex on the ruins of which the chapel was built. It is possible that a brooch about eleven meters in diameter forms the core of the hill. A few meters north of the chapel are the foundations of two small buildings of undetermined time.
South of the chapel, "The Gaisty" (also Gunnan Gairsty), a partially well-preserved "Treb Dyke", divides the island into unequal halves.
literature
- Charles Tait: The Orkney Guide Book. Edition 2.1. Kelton - St. Ola - Orkney 1999, ISBN 0-9517859-0-7 .
- A. Bowman: St Tredwell's Brough (Papa Westray parish): brough with multi-period occupation , Discovery Excav Scot, 1992. p. 82
Web links
- Description Engl. and pictures
- Entry on St Tredwell's Chapel in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database
Coordinates: 59 ° 20 '29.1 " N , 2 ° 53' 12.8" W.