CHAPEL AT LYBSTER, Parish of Reay, Caithness.
This is not the Lybster on the east coast.
This chapel ([Fig. 129]) was stated, in 1726, to be dedicated to St. Peter. It is described and illustrated by Muir in his Ecclesiastical Sketch of Caithness and Orkney, 1861. He states that it was dedicated to St. Mary.[135]
It consists of nave and chancel, both unroofed. ([Fig. 130.]) Muir, in his plan, places the chancel to the north of the nave, but it is in the usual position.
The nave is 17 feet 10 inches east and west, by 10 feet 11 inches north and south inside. The north wall of the nave is 3 degrees south of true west and north of true east, supposing the variation to be 24 degrees west of north. The walls of the west end and the east end of the nave are 4 feet 2 inches thick; the north and south walls of the nave are 3 feet 11 inches thick. The walls are of the whinstone of the district, in irregular courses, from 3 to 10 inches deep, and “spawled”—that is, made into courses by smaller stones. The north wall of the nave is 8 feet high above the present ground level, and is apparently about its original height. The south wall is partly broken. The west wall is 11 feet 8
Fig. 129.—Chapel at Lybster. View from South-West.
Fig. 130.—Chapel at Lybster. Plan, South Elevation and Section.
inches, and the east wall 15 feet 2 inches above the present ground. The latter gable was about 1 foot 6 inches higher than at present, and the west gable, of course, level with it. I did not ascertain the original level of the floor, but it must have been at least a foot below the present ground, so that the total height of the gables was about 16 feet 2 inches.
Fig. 131.—Chapel at Lybster. West End, Doorway, and Chancel Entrance.
In the west end ([Fig. 131]) is an entrance 2 feet 3 inches wide at bottom and 1 foot 9 inches at top. The head is horizontal; the jambs are parallel, and there is no sign of hinges for a door. The jambs are now 3 feet 11 inches high. The soffit of the head is flush between the outside and the inside. Another entrance has been made in the south wall near the west end, but the wall is broken here, and the form of the head is uncertain. There is now no trace of a window, but one may have existed in the place of this doorway.
The entrance to the chancel is 2 feet 9 inches wide at the bottom and 2 feet 1 inch at the head, which is flat, like the west entrance. The chancel is 11 feet 3 inches east and west, by 10 feet 9 inches north and south inside. The walls are 2 feet 4½ inches on the north and south and 2 feet 7 inches on the east. The walls are about 1 foot lower than the north wall of the nave. This chancel has been rebuilt, probably on the old foundation, and is used as a family burying-place.
There is no trace of an entrance or a window, but I think the wall has been rebuilt since the disuse of the chapel, so that the original chancel may have had a window. There is no stoup or ambry.
Planned 1871.