| St.Patrick's
Chapel, Heysham
St.Patrick's Chapel BU85, BU86, BU87, BU88, BU89 |
|
||
|
|
||
St.Patrick's Chapel at Heysham (close to Morecambe) is one of the oldest surviving Christian sites in north-west England, dating from the 8th century.
St.Patrick's Chapel, Heysham BU85 |
The
chapel occupies a prominent position on the (rare) cliffs at Heysham (there
are very few rock sea cliffs in Lancashire!) with magnificent views across
Morecambe Bay towards the Lake District.
It was also, with outstanding foresight, positioned so that it was not possible to see the less attractive, huge, looming, and neighbouring Heysham Nuclear Power Stations (built 12 centuries later). |
| It was excavated by Lancaster
University in 1977 and 1978, and many burials were found, including a woman
with a Viking period bone comb.
However the purpose of the chapel remained unclear. It was probably not part of a monastery. The nearby St.Peters Church is of a similar age and, depending on which source you believe, may even predate St. Patrick's Chapel. |
St.Patrick's Chapel, Heysham BU86 |
St.Patrick's Chapel, Heysham BU87 |
An apparently unique feature of this site are graves cut directly into the rock. These are difficult to date, and may even predate the chapel. At the head of each grave are hollows into which stone or wooden markers were probably fixed. |
| The rock-carved graves are so impressive, involved so much work, and are so central to the site that they were almost certainly made for people of considerable scantity and/or importance. |
St.Patrick's Chapel, Heysham BU88 |
An example of a carved sword gravestone is shown in St.Patrick's Chapel, Heysham BU89
