Cross Kirk, site of church

Heritage listing

Date Added 29/10/2003 Type Ecclesiastical: church Local Authority Shetland Islands Parish Dunrossness NGR HU 37479 13160 Coordinates 437479, 1113160 — The monument consists of the site of the Cross Kirk, the medieval parish church of Dunrossness, which lies within sand dunes to the north of the Bay of Quendale. The church is now visible in the landscape as a low grass covered sand mound with a single visible recumbent graveslab on the top. The mound, which is roughly rectangular, is 2-3m high and is approximately 40m N-S by 55m E-W. The church may have been dedicated to St Matthew, while a third of the corn teinds of the parish were in the possession of the bishop of Orkney. Post-reformation references to a prebend called the Cross Stouk in the 'college-kirk' of Dunrosness and to the 'prebendarie callit the Croce Kirk foundit within the college kirk of Dunrossness in Yeitland' suggest that Cross Kirk was a collegiate church. The church was abandoned in 1790 when the present parish church was built, the old church being unsuitable for worship or burial for some time due to drifting sand and the encroachment of the sea. The stones of the abandoned church were apparently robbed to construct a nearby Haa or Laird's House, Quendale House, which dates from around 1800. Three large and fine 17th-century tombstones, dedicated to various members of the Quendale branch of the Sinclair family, were within the burial ground and the church at Cross Kirk. They were removed from the site in the early 20th century. The area to be scheduled consists of the low sand-covered mound. The scheduled area is rectangular and measures 50m N-S by 60m transversely, as is indicated in red on the accompanying map extract.

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.