CHURCH ON THE ISLAND OF ENHALLOW.
This church, till lately, was unknown for many years, having been converted long ago into a cottage. On the small island Enhallow (the Holy Island), on the south-west slope of it, and about 200 yards from the shore, is a cluster of four cottages, in which four families lived. In 18—fever broke out among them, and the owner, Mr. Balfour, took the whole
Fig. 83.—Church, Enhallow, Orkney. Plan.
off the island, and pulled the roofs off the cottages. In this clearance the church was discovered. Having been altered and added to in its church time, and having since been altered and added to in its domestic time, its history is very puzzling.
It is of grey whinstones, mostly from 1 foot to 2 feet long (average 1 foot 6 inches), and 6 inches to 2 inches thick. The exterior length is 52 feet 8 inches, and the extreme width 23 feet 4 inches. It stands nearly exactly east and west. ([Fig. 83.]) The nave is 20 feet 7 inches by 12 feet inside. On the west of this, and entered through a round-headed arch, 4 feet 3 inches wide, with parallel jambs 2 feet 8 inches thick, is a building 7 feet 9 inches and 7 feet 5 inches inside, with walls 2 feet 7 inches thick, without any doorway to the outside, and with only one small square window to the south, perhaps not original. It is in the position of a tower, but it is not likely that a tower of that size would have been added to so small a church, and the walls are too thin. The size and character of the arch into it ([Fig. 84]) are against the notion that it was a
Fig. 84.—Church, Enhallow, Orkney. Sections and East Elevation.