St Clements, Harris

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

St Clement's Church (Scottish Gaelic: Tur Chliamainn) is a fifteenth century church in Rodel, Harris built for the Chiefs of the MacLeods of Harris, who lived in Dunvegan Castle in Skye. It is dedicated to Pope Clement I and was a Catholic church before falling into disuse in the eighteenth century. The church was built using local Lewisian gneiss rock. It is sometimes known as Eaglais Rodal or Rodal Church

In 1528 Alasdair Crotach Macleod, 8th Chief, prepared for himself a magnificent wall tomb - possibly the finest mediaeval wall tomb in Scotland.

The church was restored as a Protestant church in 1784. It burned down and in the 19th century it was used as a cow byre before being restored by Lady Dunmore in 1873.

The church is currently under the responsibility of Historic Scotland.