Kildalton Chapel

Heritage listing

Date Added 19/03/2013 Type Crosses and carved stones: cross (free-standing); tombstone, Ecclesiastical: burial ground, cemetery, graveyard; church Local Authority Argyll And Bute Parish Kildalton NGR NR 45797 50818 Coordinates 145797, 650818 — The monument consists of an early Christian high cross, and a substantial medieval church and its graveyard, which contains several finely carved gravestones. It also includes a later medieval cross, which stands 60m to the NE of the church and burial ground. Kildalton is situated in the SE of the island of Islay. The monument lies at approximately 20m above sea level, on the side of a valley surrounded by rough grazing land with rocky outcrops. The monument is being rescheduled to incorporate the small cross to the NE of the church, which was previously scheduled as a separately, and to bring the documentation up to modern standards. The church stands within its burial ground, which is enclosed by 19th-century walls. The current church building dates to the late 12th or early 13th century and was in use until the end of the 17th century. It is a simple rectangular structure measuring 17.3m E-W by 5.7m transversely, with walls up to 0.9m thick standing to wall-head height. It is of masonry fabric comprising regularly shaped, flat-faced boulders bonded with lime mortar and dressed with sandstone. At the E end of the S wall are the remains of a projecting piscina surmounted by a canopy, while at the N end of the E wall is an aumbry. The original entrances are located at the western end of the N and S walls and measure 0.9m in width; the S entrance is taller than the N. At the E end of the interior, the chancel has two lancet windows on each of the N, S and E walls, and there is one window at the W end, in the upper portion of the W

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.