da three kirks

[brunalf]

there's a story that there was three churches built in shetland gifted to shetland by three norwegean sisters,one in tingwall (ST MAGNUS) one in papil in burra (ST LAWRENCE) and one in ireland near bigton (ST MARYS),can anybody tell me who built them? when were they built? and who were the three sisters?

[whiskin]

See this article -

 

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/shetland/tingwallkirk/index.html

 

 

Can't help with who sisters were.

 

[brunalf]

cheers fur dat whiskin,10 oot o 10 fur effort,shame it's nae closser tae anserin da questions tho,mibee need tae call in da time team.i doot even dey widna be able tae anser aa 3 questions

[Njugle]

Da only thing I could add tae yun brunalf is dat it is said dat da tower o each kirk wis visible fae da next een - which wid mak dem sizable bits o bigin if you hae a skoit fae papil toward tingwall, I'm never checked oot da bigton een, though i towt it wis toward maywick, raider as bigton. I could be wrang aboot dat tho.

[Ghostrider]

The site of the Bigton one is marked on old maps (late 19th C.) as being right in the centre of the old original township of Ireland, the fact that a house a matter of a few yards to the west of the approx marked spot is called "Steeple Cottage" to this day, may reinforce the validity of that location.

 

If its right though, he must have had some tower, as to be seen from the north, he'd have had to be seen over the top of the Ness of Ireland, and the old toon is well down its southern slope. The Ness is higher ground than it might at first seem too, it gets dwarfed by the hills above Maywick to the east and to some degree the high north end of the isle.

[brunalf]

tingwall was to the west of the burrial chamber in the kirk yard,you can still see the marks on the ground where the kirk stood,even where the tower was on the west end.papil was kindof under where the ruined kirk stands today,but not quite on the same alignment.st marys was in ireland beside where the houses are in chapel green.you might've been able to see papil from tingwall and vice versa,but i dought if st marys could see any of the other two.even though the towers were at least 50-60 feet high,excuse me if i'm wrong about the highs but i can't find my old kirk book just now,but i'm sure these towers might've even been higher than that.but it would need to be enormous before st marys could be seen from papil.

[Vivari]

The site of the Bigton one is marked on old maps (late 19th C.) as being right in the centre of the old original township of Ireland, the fact that a house a matter of a few yards to the west of the approx marked spot is called "Steeple Cottage" to this day, may reinforce the validity of that location.

 

I have been told that when Steeple Cottage was being built a shaped stone was found that was believed to have come from the top of the steeple. I never heard what happened to the stone though.

[EM]

... a shaped stone was found that was believed to have come from the top of the steeple.

What kind of shape?

[Vivari]

Quite a number of years ago in the context of a discussion about the kirk that had once existed in Ireland. I was told "Maikie Jeemson fan da stane fae dat tap a da steeple" Oh, I said, I had never hear that "Oh Yes" replied my informant - "Steeple Cottage".

While I kind of visualised what such a stone might have looked like I didn't think to ask for further details. I assumed that the stone was found during the building of the cottage.

[Ghostrider]

^^ Assuming there's been no more than one Maikie Jeemson in the recent past to confuse the issue, asking his descendants might be worthwhile. They may well remember hearing it spoken about.

[groilick]

there's a story that there was three churches built in shetland gifted to shetland by three norwegean sisters,one in tingwall (ST MAGNUS) one in papil in burra (ST LAWRENCE) and one in ireland near bigton (ST MARYS),can anybody tell me who built them? when were they built? and who were the three sisters?

 

See Shetland Life February 2004

[brunalf]

Quite a number of years ago in the context of a discussion about the kirk that had once existed in Ireland. I was told "Maikie Jeemson fan da stane fae dat tap a da steeple" Oh, I said, I had never hear that "Oh Yes" replied my informant - "Steeple Cottage".

While I kind of visualised what such a stone might have looked like I didn't think to ask for further details. I assumed that the stone was found during the building of the cottage.

a'm shoor dat steyn's in da museum in lerick,dey only hae wan steyn fae aa 3 kirks,as far as i ken, but if you look aroond 2 o da 3 sites dere's heaps o dat sam red steyn now bggit intae yard dykes etc,in fact a great lot o da tingwall kirk got used fur road metal,poor show.

[Oddrun]

James R. Nicolson's book "Shetland", from 1972, says a little bit about the kirks : "St Magnus Church was built in 1150, the first of the three towered churches in Shetland....

....St Magnus Church was a magnificent building with a nave,a chancel and a tower 60 or 70 foot high. It's nave measured 49ft. by 18ft. internally, slightly larger than that of the famous towered church still standing of the island of Egilsay in Orkney.....

here is a link to a pic of the church in Egilsay

http://www.visitrousay.co.uk/egilsay.htm

Rather impressive, isn't it ????

Cheers, Oddrun

[MaxFusion]

I'm sure I got this link from this thread but I can't see where now so I'll post it again in case I imagined it

 

http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/papar/shetland9.html

 

it's about the papar project but there is some tallk of St Lawrence church in papil...(scroll down to the church history bit )

[brunalf]

even wi aa your replys and links,ta fur aa dat by da way,da main questions ir still no been answered

1/when wir da kirks biggit?

2/whaa biggit dem?

3/whaa wis da 3 sisters?

i very much doot if dat questions'll ever be answered,ta fur trying tho.

 

joost as an illtrickit fit note,i bet you onything dit da time team coodna even git tae da boddem o yun puzzle.