St Trinians Chapel

Period: Early Medieval

NGR Easting: 231770

NGR Northing: 480230

Description: Medieval chapel. The chapel sits within an oval enclosure bordered to the west by a stream. The remains of post-Medieval ridge and furrow can be traced elsewhere in the field. The chapel is rectangular in plan, measuring 23 by 7m. The walls are built from undressed stone in lime mortar. The north wall was reconstructed in 1908 and a number of architectural fragments incorporated into the repaired masonry.

The earliest datable stonework is in dressed granite and probably comes from Foxdale. This includes the doorway in the south wall and two windows and a pillar in the north wall, and all date to the 12th century. The remaining architectural features, formed from red sandstone and located in the gable windows, are 14th century.

The exact date of foundation is unknown, but is thought to have occurred during the reign Olaf I (1103-1153). The earliest reference to a religious site here comes from a charter of Olaf II (1226-1237) reaffirming an earlier grant to the priory of Whithorn, and mentioning the church and a hospital.

View map location on Archaeology Data Service

Site & Monument Type: keeill

Category: National Monuments Record: Statutory Ancient Monuments

Site ID number: 0732.00