Ablution at the bay

In 1972-1973, the Kilchiaran chapel ruin that is seen today is the result of a partial restoration by the Islay Historical Buildings Works Group.

March 23, 2017  Kilkiaran Chapel ruin on Islay

However, the east gable end (the tallest part of the ruin) was "original" at least to the medieval chapel building.  As the case with many medieval chapels, Kilchiaran likely was placed over an even earlier edifice.

Ignoring some lower wall foundations from the medieval construction (none exceeding three feet in height) in the nave of the chapel, the chancel section of the chapel (where its altar was located) was essentially the only part of the medieval structure still standing.

March 23, 2017  "New" east gable burial ground at Kilkiaran; single track visible on left.

Outside the chapel's east gable, a walled small burial ground was added (in the 1700s).  It was abutted against the outside of the chapel's eastern wall.  It is possible that the work to build this "new" walled cemetery ultimately helped to shore up or stabilize the east gable, fortifying its foundation.

Kilchiaran was apparently still in use when Martin Martin, a Gaelic speaking geographer, visited Scotland's "Western Isles."  He listed it as one of two parish churches on the Rinns when he visited in the 1690s.  But by 1794, roughly contemporary with the "new" cemetery on the east gable, Kilchiaran was reportedly roofless.  It has been open to the elements and deterioration for over 200 years.

The interior side of the east gable has several architectural features of interest.

March 23, 2017  Interior, Kilchiaran Chapel chancel, the east gable

Excavations at the time of the 1972-1973 repairs indicated that the chancel was  built about two feet higher than the nave of the chapel, where the parishioners congregated.  Apparently, this "mezzanine" was the original design of the medieval chancel. Two wide stone steps centered below the altar allowed access to the chancel and altar.  The east gable wall was therefore integral to Kilchiaran's chancel.

Three ambries, one low and two larger in the middle of the gable wall behind the altar, are also considered original to the medieval construction.  In common use during medieval times, these ambries would have probably been painted.  For those needing a fresher on Christian rites, an ambry is a recess built into the wall of a church for holding sacred vessels, books and  vestments.

March 23, 2017  Three ambries in Kilchiaran chapel chancel wall

Excavations at the time of the repairs uncovered the masonry remains of the altar.  The stone altar now seen at Kilchiaran dates to the 1972-1973 restorations.

March 23, 2017  Reconstructed altar in Kilchiaran chapel; basin stone slab in wall to right

It is "presumed" that medieval grave slabs now located in the interior of the chapel were moved from the burial ground and placed there at the time of the early 1970s repair work.

March 23, 2017 Effigy of a n unknown cleric

This "presumption" is somewhat surprising.  One would think that any such major modifications to the  ancient burial ground would have been recorded, certainly by the time 1970s archaeology work was being done.  That would have been well into the scientific era of archaeology with its academic regimen.  Perhaps those records exist in archives.

Existence of a burial aisle in the medieval chapel building is uncertain; early descriptions of the place at least do not say so. Thus, the burial slabs are presumed to have been placed within the ruin's reconstructed walls during the 1970s repair work.

Moving the grave slabs to the protection of the chapel's walls was probably a well intended gesture.  One account claimed that a substantial part of the chapel's ancient burial ground was obliterated when the single track road was constructed just above Kilchiaran Bay.

March 23, 2017 Dirt track through Kilchiaran's old burial grounds

Further loss has occurred due to river erosion, and a dirt track now runs through part of the old burial ground as well.

Lastly, perhaps the most interesting architectural feature on the east gable wall is a shallow basin stone, of some sort, built into the wall's masonry.  A quandary of sorts.

It has been suggested that this might be a piscina--a shallow basin placed near the altar (as this one is) and used for washing Communion vessels.  If the shallow basin stone at Kilchiaran is a piscina, it would be an early example of one.

Washing (or purifying) sacramental vessels and hands in Christian practice is known as "liturgical ablution"  For this purpose, piscinae typically have a drain--called a sacrarium--by which sacramental waters (or "particles") are ceremonially returned directly to the Earth.

The basin stone built into the east gable at Kilchiaran has no drain.  For some, this fact gives pause in defining it.  Of course, lack of a drain does not exclude the basin stone from being a piscina.  In fact, the first examples of piscinae were mere cups.  Later, small basin stones  (like the Kilchiaran example) served the sacred purpose.  These were typically placed close to the wall near the altar.

March 23, 2017  Basin stone in Kilchiaran's east gable interior wall

Later still, piscinae were built into sanctuary walls; and by this time (1300s) piscinae usually included a sacrarium and they were also usually built into ambry recesses as well, being considered a sacred object in itself.  Thus, later medieval picscinae would typically have been recessed versus protruding, as in the case of the basin stone at Kilchiaran.  The ambries that do exist at Kilchiaran were not built to contain a piscina.

Rarely were piscinae found in Britain until perhaps the mid 13th century.  This leads to the obvious question:  "So, when was the medieval Kilchiaran chapel built?"  Unfortunately, once again the answer is "uncertain".  Most scholars consider Kilchiaran to have been built during the 13th to 14th centuries.  Some are more precise, estimating Kilchiaran was built in the early 1200s.

Given the "primitiveness" of the basin stone at Kilchiaran, if it is indeed a piscina, then it would be certainly be in agreement with an early 1200s estimated date of construction.  The corollary is that this same "primitiveness" probably does not support a late 14th century construction date, since by that time, liturgical ablution was widely common in Christian communities, using more "refined" piscinae.  The basin stone at Kilchiaran chapel is hardly sophisticated.  It is relatively crude.

New archaeological estimates (the 2003 Coastal Zone Assessment Survey of Islay) have expanded the date range for the existing medieval "fabric" at Kilchiaran.  Estimates have moved forward by a couple centuries, dating the possible construction of Kilchiaran chapel from sometime between the 10th and 14th centuries (900s to 1300s A.D.).  This increases the uncertainty.  By this estimate, the medieval ruins at Kilchiaran could be as early as the 900s A.D....a very aggressive estimate

March 23, 2017  Nave entrance and probable window, as conceived in 1973 repairs 

Lastly, regarding the basin stone in the east gable wall, an alternative purpose for the basin stone at Kilchiaran has been suggested; namely, that it is lamp stone.  According to that theory, it would have been filled with oil or fats, with a floating wick for illumination.  Though plausible, a lamp seems unlikely.  Further, if one assumes the present altar was reconstructed to the correct height during the 1972-1973 repairs, light from the hypothesized lamp would have been somewhat below the altar top.

The modern suggestion of a lamp is at variance from what early geographers visiting the site considered it to be--Muir (1855) and Graham (1895).  Graham stated "to the right of where the altar stood, there is a projecting stone hollowed into a little basin as if for holy water."

For what it's worth, this traveler also agrees with the earlier view, that it is a "primitive" piscina.  This suggest the medieval Kilchiaran chapel was probably built in the early 1200s over an even earlier chapel on the site, as has been true for many and perhaps most medieval chapels in Argyll & Bute. 

March 23, 2017  Kilchiaran grave stones