St Columb's Church,Eilean Chaluim Chille

Heritage listing

Date Added 17/02/1992 Supplementary Information Updated 26/06/2023 Type Ecclesiastical: burial ground, cemetery, graveyard; church; well Local Authority Na h-Eileanan Siar Parish Lochs NGR NB 38593 21042 Coordinates 138593, 921042 — The monument consists of the remains of a single chambered early Mediaeval church within a burial ground. The church is located on the SE coast of Eilean Chaluim Chille near the mouth of the Loch Erisort, a sea loch. The building has lost its gables but elsewhere the walls generally survive to a height of 2.1m. It is orientated E-W, measuring externally 11m by 5.7m over walls 1m thick. The masonry is of rough random coursed rubble with small stone pinnings. There is a deeply splayed, round headed window in the SE part of the South wall which has been blocked up on the exterior. Its sill has fallen and is inside the church. A section of the North wall has been poorly consolidated, possibly obscuring the entrance. The overgrown interior of the church contains a number of upright 19th century grave stones. The graveyard measures approximately 30m N-S by 25m E-W and contains numerous marker stones and several 19th century tablets. There is a well constructed retaining wall between the burial ground and the shore. Against the S wall of the burial ground is a well. On either side of the cemetery are the wall footings of old farmsteads and field boundaries. These dwellings have subsequently had a pair of small high walled rectangular burial enclosures built within them. The area to be scheduled is irregular and measures a maximum of 30m N-S by 30m E-W to include the Church and burial ground as shown in red on the accompanying map.

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.