Description

The monument consists of St Columba's chapel and a cross marked standing stone 8 m W of it. The remains of St Columba's chapel lie on level ground about 130m N of Tarbert Bay. The chapel measures 7.8m (E-W) by 3.4m (N-S) within walls about lm thick, whose inner face is preserved to an average height of 0.9m. There was a doorway some 0.8m wide in the S wall and remains of an altar emplacement against the E wall. The cross marked stone is of local green schist , 1.9m high and 0.43 by 0.13 m at the base.

Both faces bear sunken Latin crosses 1 m high with a raised boss at the intersection of the arms. The scheduled area consists of two separate areas the larger of which includes the turf-covered walls of the chapel and the area which they enclose, some 10m (E-W) by 5.5m (N-S), and smaller of which includes the crossmarked stone with an area extending 1m from its base in all directions as marked in red on the accompanying plan.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The site is of national importance both for the visible remains of the medieval chapel of St Columba and for the below-ground archaeological remains associated with them, which have the potential to shed significant light on early Christian liturgical usage and material culture. The crossmarked stone is of national importance as representing a significant standing feature of this early Christian site; the area about its base if excavated has the potential to shed light on the date at which it was erected in its present position and its relationship to the rest of the site.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation

Source: Historic Environment Scotland