Monument record 105 - CNOC EOTHAIL, CAPAIL MOR & CAPAIL BEAC, BAILE NA CILLE,LEWIS

NB03SW 2 0480 3387.

(NB 0480 3387) Burial Ground (NAT)
OS 6'map, (1965)

An old churchyard, beside the highest point of which stood a church built in 1724. The site was occupied by the earlier church. 'Capail Mor' - Big Chapel' - the foundations of which are said to be traceable in the spring. To the south of it is the site of Capail Beag - 'Little Chapel' - possibly a still earlier church. 'Capail Mor' was a sanctuary.
(One of these, probably 'Capail Mor'), is presumably the pre-Reformation 'St Christopher's Chapel in Uge' noted by Martin.
RCAHMS 1928, visited 1914; M Martin 1934.

This burial ground is in a knoll, on the summit of which are traces of stony banks which may be the remains of the chapel, but they are now so obscured by grave slabs, loose boulders and vegetation that the general shape and outline is impossible to define. There is no trace of the other two chapels, and there is no local knowledge of them, nor of the dedication.
Within the burial ground, which was last used over 20 years ago, is a stone font.
Visited by OS (R L) 28 June 1969.

Visited by the Coastal Erosion Assessment team 1996.

The 'stone font' mentioned above may be a holy water stoup. MML 10.1.2000

'The monument known as Cnoc Eothail, Baille na Cille, burial ground and site of chapel comprises the site of a pre-Reformation Chapel (thought to have been called St Christopher's) within a walled burial ground. The area to be scheduled is oval measuring a maximum of 33m N-S by 40m E-W to include the entire burial ground.'
HS Scheduling Document 27 April 1992.

The teampall is located at NB 04800 33870, and is situated in an enclosed burial ground on top of a small knoll, as described in the OS and SMR. The knoll meausres roughly 30m, NE-Sw and 40m NW-SE. Even during September, the vegetation at thie site was very thick, and obscured most of the low, rough unmakred gravestones that cover the site in thickly packed N-S rows. It could not be discerned whether there were head and foot stones, or just head stones. The unmarked gravesontes were on average 0.2m high and 0.35m wide. … about 18 rows of burials could be traced. There are also 31 larger, later gravestones in the burial ground…
On the top of the mounded burial ground, the chapel walls can just be recognised under the thick grass cover. Part of the north wall aligned east to west can be discerned as a stony bank for 3.5m. It then curves around to the south for a further 3.5m. There is then a break to the west, and then the return wall of the south side of the building can be seen for up to 2m. The west wall could not be distinguished at all. The east wall is the most prominent and stands up to 0.8m proud of the surrounding ground surface.
Barrowman 2005, 51

NB 0482 3395 While visitng the burial ground at Baille-na-Cille, two fragments of pottery (undecorated, unglazed) were recovered from the ground surface adjacent to an erosion hollow. The erosion hollow lies c 2m uphill from a small ruined stone building, constructed at the end of a stone trackway, which runs uphill to a spring at the foot of a small stone cliff.
The local archaeologist was informed; photographs showing location were sent to Western Isles SMR.

Clydesdale, A 1999, 94

Martin Martin, 1695a, A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland c. 1695, 106 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5082.

RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 18, No. 67 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.

Burgess, Christopher & Church, Michael, 1997, Coastal Erosion Assessment, Lewis. A Report for Historic Scotland (Bibliographic reference). SWE41000.

Council for Scottish Archaeology, 1999, Discovery and Excavation iin Scotland (Bibliographic reference). SWE41183.

Rachel Barrowman, 2005, Lewis Coastal Chapel-sites Survey 2004/5 (Unpublished document). SWE41095.