Known as the Italian Chapel, this was built by detainees during their time on the islands and it is now one of Orkney's most popular tourist attractions.
In 1939, the British battleship HMS Royal Oak was sunk by a Nazi U-boat in Scapa Flow, resulting in the loss of 834 lives.
In response, Winston Churchill approved the building of a series of sea defences in a bid to make the waters around Orkney more secure.
There was a shortage of manpower to build what are now known as the Churchill Barriers, so more than 1,000 Italian soldiers captured in North Africa were sent to Orkney in February 1942 to help build what are now called The Churchill Barriers. Around half were transported to Camp 60 in Lamb Holm and a similar number to Camp 34 on Burray.
In their spare time the prisoners planted flowers and made concrete paths around the camp. A theatre with scenery was created as well as a recreation hall with three concrete pool tables.
Following a request from the camp priest on Lamb Holm, Fr Giacobazzi, it was agreed that two Nissen huts would be joined together to provide a chapel, to be dedicated to Regina Pacis, the Queen of Peace.
Among the Italians in Camp 60 was Domenico Chiocchetti. When the officers realised Chiocchetti was a talented artist, he was excused heavy duties and given permission to work full time on the chapel.
Domenico Chiocchetti had been born in the small town of Moena in the Dolomite Mountains in 1910, and was the youngest of 12 children. He had dreams of becoming an artist, but coming from a poor family had no opportunity to attend art college.
He did, however, get an apprenticeship with the church to train to become a church painter. He was able to study art, which included painting flat surfaces to resemble raised architectural features, like pillars and ceiling bosses. Chiocchetti used this skill to amazing effect in the Italian Chapel, assisted by other tradesmen, in particular Giuseppe Palumbi, a blacksmith, and Domenico Buttapasta, a cement worker.
Chiocchetti was responsible for the design of the building, the artwork that graces its inside and the designs for the metal rood screen and candle holders.
He was also responsible for the statue of St George killing the dragon which stood in the camp square. Within its base is a roll with the names of all the prisoners based in the camp.
Wooden strapping with plaster board lined the inside walls of the Nissan huts. Layers of concrete reinforced with wire netting was added to the outside and used to build up the front facade complete with porch and bell tower.
Much of the material used in the building of the Italian Chapel was recycled from anything that the prisoners could get their hands on. The little star-spangled lanterns that hang on either side of the sanctuary are made from a corned beef tin skilfully cut to form a filigree lantern of intricate design.
The brass candlesticks on either side of the altar are made from decorative fittings for ship’s stairs, taken from a blockship, scuttled in Scapa Flow during world war One. The wood for the wall linings and the tabernacle came from a blockship.
The spiral base of the holy water stoup, which stands near the door, was made from a casting of a suspension spring from a lorry. The mould was then used to cast the base in concrete.
Balfour Beatty and Co who were responsible for the construction of the Churchill Barriers, donated the concrete and the metal rods used to design the sanctuary screen and candle sticks. The paint was gifted to the prisoners by JM Stevenon, a Newsagent in Kirkwall, whose manager was on friendly terms with the Italians. The curtains on either side of the altar are the only things that had to be bought, paid for from the prisoner’s welfare fund.
The Madonna and Child painting above the altar was based on an image on a prayer card Domenico Chiocchetti's mother gave him before he left home for war. It is a beautiful image of a serene Madonna surrounded by a halo of light flanked by angels. On either side are two windows depicting St Catherine of Sienna ands St Francis of Assisi, painted to look like stained glass.
On the ceiling above is the dove of peace with the symbols of the four apostles.
When Italy surrendered to Allied Forces in 1943, the men being held in Orkney could not be returned to their native country because of Nazi Germany's influence in the region. They prisoners eventually left Orkney in September 1944, transferring to Skipton in North Yorkshire where they worked as farm labourers. They eventually returned home in 1946.
After the war, the POW camps on Lamb Holm and Burray were demolished, including the small Italian Chapel built on Burray.
Thomas Thomson from St Margaret’s Hope, South Ronaldsay, was part of the team tasked with the demolition of Camp 60. He was a Church of Scotland elder, and after speaking to other workers approached his boss asking for the chapel to be left.
Over the years, the chapel had began to deteriorate. Cracks opened up on the roof and water got in, staining paintwork and softening the plasterboard. Buttapasta’s facade started to crack away from the rest of the building. The door rotted. Sheep found their way in, covering the floor with their droppings and rubbing away the lower decorations. Human vandals had also been at work, writing their names on the inside walls. Palumbi’s rood screen was rusting.
The Italian Chapel Preservation Committee was set up in 1958, by Father Joseph-Ryland Whitaker, the Catholic priest for Orkney and Shetland. The BBC heard of the story and made a programme about the chapel, even tracking down Chiocchetti for an interviews.
In 1960 the BBC generously paid for Chiocchetti to return to Orkney to restore his artwork and repair the chapel. A bitumenised waterproof covering was added to the roof.
In 1961, the carved figure of Christ, which stands at the chapel entrance, was gifted by Chiocchetti’s home town, Moena. The cross and canopy were made in Kirkwall.
When Chiocchetti returned in 1964 with his wife Maria, he brought the gift of 14 lovely carvings of the Stations of the Cross, which are hung on the walls of the Italian Chapel
Chiocchetti returned to the chapel several times to restore parts of his work. In 1992, a group of eight former prisoners returned to the Chapel for the 50th Anniversary of their arrival on Orkney, although Domenico Chioccheti was not with them. He died in 1999.
The chapel is open daily throughout the year. It is very popular with visitors and there is now a small entry charge. It is a magical and very moving place.
website
In 1939, the British battleship HMS Royal Oak was sunk by a Nazi U-boat in Scapa Flow, resulting in the loss of 834 lives.
In response, Winston Churchill approved the building of a series of sea defences in a bid to make the waters around Orkney more secure.
There was a shortage of manpower to build what are now known as the Churchill Barriers, so more than 1,000 Italian soldiers captured in North Africa were sent to Orkney in February 1942 to help build what are now called The Churchill Barriers. Around half were transported to Camp 60 in Lamb Holm and a similar number to Camp 34 on Burray.
In their spare time the prisoners planted flowers and made concrete paths around the camp. A theatre with scenery was created as well as a recreation hall with three concrete pool tables.
Following a request from the camp priest on Lamb Holm, Fr Giacobazzi, it was agreed that two Nissen huts would be joined together to provide a chapel, to be dedicated to Regina Pacis, the Queen of Peace.
Among the Italians in Camp 60 was Domenico Chiocchetti. When the officers realised Chiocchetti was a talented artist, he was excused heavy duties and given permission to work full time on the chapel.
Domenico Chiocchetti had been born in the small town of Moena in the Dolomite Mountains in 1910, and was the youngest of 12 children. He had dreams of becoming an artist, but coming from a poor family had no opportunity to attend art college.
He did, however, get an apprenticeship with the church to train to become a church painter. He was able to study art, which included painting flat surfaces to resemble raised architectural features, like pillars and ceiling bosses. Chiocchetti used this skill to amazing effect in the Italian Chapel, assisted by other tradesmen, in particular Giuseppe Palumbi, a blacksmith, and Domenico Buttapasta, a cement worker.
Chiocchetti was responsible for the design of the building, the artwork that graces its inside and the designs for the metal rood screen and candle holders.
He was also responsible for the statue of St George killing the dragon which stood in the camp square. Within its base is a roll with the names of all the prisoners based in the camp.
Wooden strapping with plaster board lined the inside walls of the Nissan huts. Layers of concrete reinforced with wire netting was added to the outside and used to build up the front facade complete with porch and bell tower.
Much of the material used in the building of the Italian Chapel was recycled from anything that the prisoners could get their hands on. The little star-spangled lanterns that hang on either side of the sanctuary are made from a corned beef tin skilfully cut to form a filigree lantern of intricate design.
The brass candlesticks on either side of the altar are made from decorative fittings for ship’s stairs, taken from a blockship, scuttled in Scapa Flow during world war One. The wood for the wall linings and the tabernacle came from a blockship.
The spiral base of the holy water stoup, which stands near the door, was made from a casting of a suspension spring from a lorry. The mould was then used to cast the base in concrete.
Balfour Beatty and Co who were responsible for the construction of the Churchill Barriers, donated the concrete and the metal rods used to design the sanctuary screen and candle sticks. The paint was gifted to the prisoners by JM Stevenon, a Newsagent in Kirkwall, whose manager was on friendly terms with the Italians. The curtains on either side of the altar are the only things that had to be bought, paid for from the prisoner’s welfare fund.
The Madonna and Child painting above the altar was based on an image on a prayer card Domenico Chiocchetti's mother gave him before he left home for war. It is a beautiful image of a serene Madonna surrounded by a halo of light flanked by angels. On either side are two windows depicting St Catherine of Sienna ands St Francis of Assisi, painted to look like stained glass.
On the ceiling above is the dove of peace with the symbols of the four apostles.
When Italy surrendered to Allied Forces in 1943, the men being held in Orkney could not be returned to their native country because of Nazi Germany's influence in the region. They prisoners eventually left Orkney in September 1944, transferring to Skipton in North Yorkshire where they worked as farm labourers. They eventually returned home in 1946.
After the war, the POW camps on Lamb Holm and Burray were demolished, including the small Italian Chapel built on Burray.
Thomas Thomson from St Margaret’s Hope, South Ronaldsay, was part of the team tasked with the demolition of Camp 60. He was a Church of Scotland elder, and after speaking to other workers approached his boss asking for the chapel to be left.
Over the years, the chapel had began to deteriorate. Cracks opened up on the roof and water got in, staining paintwork and softening the plasterboard. Buttapasta’s facade started to crack away from the rest of the building. The door rotted. Sheep found their way in, covering the floor with their droppings and rubbing away the lower decorations. Human vandals had also been at work, writing their names on the inside walls. Palumbi’s rood screen was rusting.
The Italian Chapel Preservation Committee was set up in 1958, by Father Joseph-Ryland Whitaker, the Catholic priest for Orkney and Shetland. The BBC heard of the story and made a programme about the chapel, even tracking down Chiocchetti for an interviews.
In 1960 the BBC generously paid for Chiocchetti to return to Orkney to restore his artwork and repair the chapel. A bitumenised waterproof covering was added to the roof.
In 1961, the carved figure of Christ, which stands at the chapel entrance, was gifted by Chiocchetti’s home town, Moena. The cross and canopy were made in Kirkwall.
When Chiocchetti returned in 1964 with his wife Maria, he brought the gift of 14 lovely carvings of the Stations of the Cross, which are hung on the walls of the Italian Chapel
Chiocchetti returned to the chapel several times to restore parts of his work. In 1992, a group of eight former prisoners returned to the Chapel for the 50th Anniversary of their arrival on Orkney, although Domenico Chioccheti was not with them. He died in 1999.
The chapel is open daily throughout the year. It is very popular with visitors and there is now a small entry charge. It is a magical and very moving place.
website
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