The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian times to the seventeenth century; vol. 1/3MacGibbon, David
History
The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian times to the seventeenth century; vol. 1/3
MacGibbon, David
Church architecture -- Scotland
“Mugstot, properly Monkstead, stands on a slightly elevated spot
surrounded by a swampy meadow, formerly the bed of a lake, some two or
three miles from Uig, in the direction of Kilmuir Kirk. Like Skeabost,
it exhibits a group of greatly ruinated buildings, three in number,
standing in a line from north to south. The southernmost building, which
is 22 feet long inside, and pointed east and west, is the least
dilapidated, and evidently the Chapel of St. Columba mentioned by
Martin. The intermediate ruins are little more than the foundations of
an oblong building, 49 feet in length, and standing north and south.”
Then follows a description of what has apparently been a circular
cashel. “The other building is of oval form, measuring internally about
62 feet east and west, and 42 feet north and south, the walls composed
of irregularly-shaped stones, mostly of large size, uncemented, but
fitly put together. This building is very much broken down, but least
dilapidated on the east, where it is still some 7 or 8 feet high. Within
the area are observable the foundations of walls crossing each other at
right angles, the spaces between having probably been vaulted
cells.”[67]
HOWMORE, SOUTH UIST.
At Mr. Muir’s first visit there were here remains of a group of five
chapels (Fig. 33) all close together, but on his second visit he found
one removed. “The missing one was a very characteristic building, the
smallest of the group, with a very narrow rectangular window and a short
_sloping_ doorway in the east end. Externally it measured only 17½ feet
in length.
[Illustration: FIG. 33.--Hoghmore, South Uist.]
Of those still remaining, the largest has been about 60 feet in length.
Scarcely anything of it is standing more than the east wall, a long
cruciform couplet [widely splayed inside and looking like first
pointed],[88] in which shows that the building had been the finest and
largest of the lot. The next largest is internally rather more than 54
feet in length. Of it, also, the only remains is the east wall [pierced
with a narrow flat-headed window (Fig. 34), 2 feet long and 6 inches
wide, extremely rude].[68] The two other chapels are each about 20 feet
in length, not so much reduced, but with no features deserving notice.
[In the east gable there is a flat-headed window of very small size, and
on the south side there is one much of the same kind; on the north side
are remains of a doorway--the west end blank.][69] In two of the chapels
the altar is still extant, and there are also fine memorial slabs.”[70]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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