Houton Chapel 60m E of Sunnybraes Orphir, Scotland
Scheduled Monument Data
Houton Chapel 60m E of Sunnybraes has been designated a scheduled monument in Scotland with the following information. Please note that not all available data may be shown here, minor errors and/or formatting may have occurred during transcription, and some information may have become outdated since scheduling.
- Historic Scotland ID
- SM0
- Name
- Houton, chapel 60m E of Sunnybraes
- Parish
- Orphir
- County
- Orkney Islands
- Easting
- 331239
- Northing
- 1003580
- Categories
- Ecclesiastical: chapel
- Date Listed
- 31 October 1972
- Date Amended
- 23 December 2004
- Date Updated
- 23 December 2004
Scheduled Monument Description
Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
The monument comprises the grass-covered remains of a building, known locally as Kirkhouse and interpreted as the site of a medieval chapel. It is sited on a small peninsula by the shore on the E side of Houton Head. The monument was first scheduled in 1972, but the documentation is faulty: the present scheduling rectifies this.
The visible remains are a grass-covered hollow measuring about 4m from N-S by 2.5m transversely by 0.4m deep and lined with on-edge slabs. Whilst this structure is not suggestive of a chapel, the place-name evidence and the fact that four medieval bronze bells were found here, do suggest that the chapel is on this site.
The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan and measures a maximum of 46m from NE-SW by 38m transversely, to include the visible remains and an area around in which associated remains may survive, as marked in red on the attached map. The NW edge of the scheduled area is defined by a modern fence which is excluded from the scheduling.
Scheduled Monument Statement of Significance
Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
The monument is of national significance because of its potential to provide information about the medieval and later church in Orkney.
Scheduled Monument References
Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
RCAHMS record this monument as HY30SW7.