![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/St._Patrick%27s_Chapel_tombs.JPG)
St Patrick's Chapel is a ruined building that stands on a headland above
St Peter's Church, in
Heysham
Heysham ( ) is a coastal town in Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a Heysham Port, ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two Heysham nuclear power station, nuclear power stations.
Demogra ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, England (). It is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...
as a designated Grade I
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
,
and is a
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
.
Description
The ruin dates from the 8th or 9th century, and is built of
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
rubble
Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionary ...
.
[ The plan is a plain slightly tapering rectangle measuring by . Consolidation work was carried out in 1903 using stone tiles. Most of the south wall, the east gable wall, and the east part of the north wall are still present. The south wall contains a doorway with long-and-short ]jambs
A jamb (from French ''jambe'', "leg"), in architecture, is the side-post or lining of a doorway or other aperture. The jambs of a window outside the frame are called “reveals.” Small shafts to doors and windows with caps and bases are know ...
and an arch with concentric grooves.[ Near the chapel is a group of six rock-cut tombs and a separate group of two rock-cut tombs. Each group is listed at Grade I, and each tomb has an associated socket probably intended for a timber cross.
]
Archaeology
In 1977 an excavation took place in and to the south of the chapel, which dated the site to the late 6th or early 7th century. The buried skeletons uncovered were dated as no earlier than the 10th century. A further excavation took place in April 1993 on land below the stone coffins. No human bones were found but more than 1,200 artefacts were recovered, which showed that the site had been occupied about 12,000 years ago.
See also
* Grade I listed churches in Lancashire
*Grade I listed buildings in Lancashire
This is a list of Grade I listed buildings in Lancashire, England.
In the United Kingdom, the term "listed building" refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural signifi ...
*Scheduled monuments in Lancashire
__NOTOC__
This is a list of scheduled monuments in the English county of Lancashire.
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a "nationally important" archaeological site or historic building that has been given protection against unauth ...
*Listed buildings in Heysham
Heysham is an Civil parishes in England, unparished area in City of Lancaster, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It contains 26 Listed building#England and Wales, listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of the ...
References
External links
Oxford University Woruldhord project - St Patrick's Chapel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heysham, St Patrick's Chapel
Ruins in Lancashire
Chapels in England
Scheduled monuments in Lancashire
Roman Catholic churches in Lancashire
Churches in the City of Lancaster
Grade I listed churches in Lancashire