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Inch Kenneth Chapel, chapel, cross and tombstones, Loch na Keal

A Scheduled Monument in Oban South and the Isles, Argyll and Bute

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Coordinates

Latitude: 56.4411 / 56°26'28"N

Longitude: -6.1592 / 6°9'33"W

OS Eastings: 143741

OS Northings: 735419

OS Grid: NM437354

Mapcode National: GBR CC5P.PKK

Mapcode Global: WGZDX.CC9H

Entry Name: Inch Kenneth Chapel, chapel, cross and tombstones, Loch na Keal

Scheduled Date: 27 March 1928

Last Amended: 30 July 1998

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Source ID: SM90168

Schedule Class: Cultural

Category: Crosses and carved stones: cross (free-standing); Ecclesiastical: church

Location: Kilfinichen and Kilvickeon

County: Argyll and Bute

Electoral Ward: Oban South and the Isles

Traditional County: Argyllshire

Description

This monument consists of the remains of a 13th-century parish church with associated ground and funerary and monumental sculpture. It has been scheduled for many years, and this rescheduling is merely intended to clarify, without extending, the protected area and status of the monument, as these are not perfectly clear in the 1920s documents.

The church measures roughly 12m by 6m with the nave/chancel divide marked only by a step. There are two lancet windows in the E wall with a further small window in each of the N and S walls of the chancel. The main entrance to the church is towards the W end of the N wall and retains several voussoirs from its arched entrance. The E gable has a pronounced lean which has been stabilised, probably in the 16th or 17th centuries, by two massive buttresses at the corners. To the south of the chancel is a burial enclosure. The walls of the church are largely complete, though the gables and the S wall have suffered considerable losses.

Against the W wall of the church stand eight grave slabs. To the SW of the church is a free standing disc-headed cross.

The scheduled area includes the church, the historic tombstones and the entire graveyard as defined by the fence which borders its N, E and W sides and the top of the cliff to the S. The area is irregular in shape, measuring a maximum of 80m NE-SW by 65m NW-SE, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

This monument is of national importance as a well-preserved medieval chapel. The quality of the carving, both on the chapel and on the associated grave slabs, indicates the importance of the site in the Middle Ages. The dedication suggests that the site may have an early Christian origin though there has been no evidence to support this. The archaeology of the site has the potential to increase our knowledge of life in Argyll in the Middle Ages. The monument's importance is recognised by its status as a Property in Care of the Secretary of State.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCHAMS records the monument as NM43NW 1.
Historic Environment Scotland Properties
Inchkenneth Chapel
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/inchkenneth-chapel
Find out more

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

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