Monument record MHG10165 - Chapel, (St Inan?) Gartymore

ND01SW 1 0125 1427.
Chapel (NR) (site of) OS 6" map, (1963)

There is a chapel site at Gartymore. Its dedication has been forgotten, but said, only by Cooke (1810), to be dedicated to St Inan. <1>-<3>

"The chapel was built by Magdalen Baillie Countess of Sutherland. After the tower of Helmsdale had been demolished Margaret Baillie lived in the boundes of Easter Garty in a solitary and quiet place, which she had built for her devotion…. The ruins of the chapel are still recollected". <4>

Site of Chapel - "In ancient times a chapel was said to have stood here but there is nothing to mark site now but a heap of stones. It does not appear to have had a dedicatory name and there is nothing known about date of its erection". Name Book 1871. <5>

At this spot is a rectangular mound of stones 6.5m by 3.8m by 1.4m high, having the appearance of building debris. The footings of possibly a dressed stone wall can be seen on north side of the mound, which lies with its main axis almost due E-W. Nothing else was seen in the area. There is not sufficient evidence to classify as "remains of". Visited by OS (W D J) 27 May 1960.

No change since report of 27 May 1960. This heap of stones is still known locally as the site of a chapel.
Visited by OS (J B) 8 May 1976.

The chapel is believed to have been built some time before 1494. The chapel is depicted on John Kirk's map of 1772-4 and was not in ruins at that time. The words "The ruins of the chapel are still recollected" do not appear in the original manuscript version of Gordon's Genealogy held in Dornoch Library, so this source does not contradict the map evidence. It was probably not still standing when it was described by GA Cooke in 1810. <6>