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MHG5227 - Chapel and Cross Slab - Teampull Fraing

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Type and Period (2)

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See also:
NG62NW0020 Graveyard
J Aitken : 10/12/02
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NG62NW 1 6285 2816.

(NG 6285 2816.) Teampull Fraing (NR) (Ruins of)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1903)

646. Teampull Fraing, Island of Scalpay.
Near the south-east corner of the island of Scalpay, on a grassy knowe on the west side of a small burn, shelt ered by sharply rising hills t o the north-west , some 300 yards southwest of Scalpay House and about 150 yards from the shore, in a burying ground which is still occasionally used, are the fragmentary remains of Teampull Fraing, the area which includes the Church and burying ground being known locally as Francaig. The church has been built of stone and shell lime, but is now an utter ruin. It is oblong on plan, and orientated a little south of east and west of north. The best preserved part of the teampull is at the eastern end, where the gable reaches a height of 4 feet 6 inches, otherwise the walls have a height only of 2 to 3 feetab ove the outer level. The building measures about 21 feet in length and 12 feet in breadth internally and the wall is about 3 feet thick.
Apparently the door has been near the western end of the southern wall.
In the mortar, which contains many oyster, mussel, limp et, whelk and other shells, fragments of charred wood used in burning the lime were noted at one place.
Visited by RCAHMS 11 May 1914

Slab with Incised Cross.
A few yards west of Teampull Fraing stands a narrow, undressed slab of red grit, 3 feet 9 inches above ground, 8t inches in breadth for the greater part of its length, and varying from 3 inches to 5 inches in thickness. On the eastern face it bears a rude Latin cross, the outline of which is formed by incised lines continued across the intersection of the shaft and arms, the ends of the top, arms and base being curved. It measures 16 inches in length and 6 3/8 inches across the arms . The top measures 4 inches in length and I 1/4 inches in breadth, the arms 2 1/2 inches in length and I 1/2 inches in breadth, and the shaft 10 1/2 inches in length and from1 3/8 inches to I 1/4 inches in breadth. It is placed slightly to the dexter side of the medial line of the slab about 13 inches from the top.
Visited by RCAHMS 14 May 1914.

In a burying ground, which is still occasionally used, are the fragmentary remains of Teampull Fraing, or Teampull Frangaia (the Temple of St. Francis) (NSA 1845), the area which includes the church and burying ground being known locally as Francaig. The church has been built of stone and shell lime, but is now an utter ruin. It is oblong on plan, and orientated a little S of E and W of N. The best preserved part is at the E end where the gable reaches a height of 4ft 6ins, otherwise the walls have a height of only 2-3ft above the outer level. The building measures about 21ft in length and 12ft in breadth internally, the wall being about 3ft thick. Apparently the door has been near the W end of the S wall.
A few yards W of the church stands a narrow undressed slab of red grit, 3ft 9ins above ground, 8 1/2ins in breadth and varying from 3-5ins in thickness, on the E face of which is a rude incised Latin cross (RCAHMS 1928).
NSA 1845; RCAHMS 1928.

This chapel is as described by RCAHMS, also the incised cross. The graveyard is still in use.
Visited by OS (C F W) 26 June 1961.

This island is separated from the NE coast of Skye by a channel which at its SE end is about 450m wide. It measures 7km from NW to SE by 5km and rises to a summit of 390m, with steep slopes falling to the sea for much of its perimeter. The only significant area of level ground, and the former centre of population, is in the vicinity of Scalpay House on the SE coast. The ruin of Teampull Fraing, a small lime-mortared chapel, stands in a quadrangular burial-ground 300m SW of Scalpay House, on the N bank of the Allt na Sean Chille ('stream of the old burial-ground / chapel') and 150m from the shore. There are also remains of a chapel on the smaller and low-lying island of Pabay, 5km to the ESE.
To the W of the chapel there is an L-shaped upright slab, heavily weathered and lichen-stained. It measures 1.12m in visible height, 0.21m in width in the lower part and 0.17m above, and about 100mm in thickness. On the E face there is an outline Latin cross, 0.41m high by 0.17m across the arms. It is possible that the grooves of the shaft and transom are continued with shallower incisions at their intersection, but the arms have plain terminals rather than rounded ones as has been suggested. <1>

Scalpay, Skye & Lochalsh, cross-slab
Measurements: H 1.12m, W 0.21m, D 0.10m
Stone type: red grit
Place of discovery: NG 6285 2816
Present location: in situ near Teampull Fraing.
Evidence for discovery: noted by RCAHMS during fieldwork in 1914.
Present condition: very weathered.
Description
On the east face of this tall slab is an incised outline cross.
Date range: seventh or eighth century.
Primary references: RCAHMS 1928, no 646; Fisher 2001, 102.
Compiled by A Ritchie, Early Medieval Carved Stones Project, 2016 <2>

GIS spatial data created 2019 based on OS Master Map. <3>

Sources/Archives (5)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 6285 2815 (8m by 4m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG62NW
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	STRATH

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