A lifetime of Islands: Island 23

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Island 23 - Lamb Holm, Orkney

Lamb Holm is a small uninhabited island, which is linked by road causeways to Orkney Mainland at St Mary's to the north and the even smaller uninhabited island of Glimps Holm to the south. The island is 1 km from south west to north east and 500 metres from north west to south east. The highest point on the island is 20 metres above sea level.

In January 1942 1,200 Italian prisoners of war, who had been captured in North Africa, were sent to camps on Lamb Holm (500 of them) and the larger inhabited island of Burray. Their task was to assist the contractor Balfour Beatty in the building of what later became known as the Churchill Barriers. These are 5 causeways linking Orkney Mainland and the four islands lying in a chain to the south: Lamb Holm, Glimps Holm, Burray and South Ronaldsay. The 5th and lesser known Churchill Barrier links Burray to the small island of Hunda. The purpose of the causeways was to protect the eastern side of the deep water anchorage of Scapa Flow, which was used as a base by the Royal Navy, from attack by the Germans. In October 1939 they had sunk HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow and 833 men lost their lives.

Initially the Italians refused to work on the barriers and went on strike because the Geneva Convention forbade the use of prisoners of war in "war work". However they were eventually persuaded that the barriers were needed to link the islands together to improve communications for the islanders of Burray and South Ronaldsay. Today the Churchill Barriers are used to carry the A961 road from St Mary's on Orkney Mainland to South Ronaldsay

The Italians at Camp 60 on Lamb Holm persuaded their camp commandant Major T.P. Buckland to allow them to build a chapel on Lamb Holm. Domenico Chiocchetti, an artist and sculptor, recruited craftsmen such as plasterers, blacksmiths and electricians from amongst his fellow prisoners. Together they transformed 2 Nissen huts into a wonderful chapel using readily available materials and trompe l'oeil. The corrugated iron walls were covered with plasterboard, an altar was constructed and ornate ironwork was used to create the sanctuary screen. A concrete façade with a small belfry was built in front of the entrance. The inside was painted to resemble brickwork and Domenico Chiocchetti painted a Madonna and Child mural as the altarpiece.

The Italians left Orkney in 1944. In 1960 Chiocchetti returned to Lamb Holm for 3 weeks to help restore the chapel, which has been looked after by the local people ever since. The Italian Chapel as it is now known is one of the main tourist attractions on Orkney.

Lamb Holm has a small airfield with a grass runway and the quarry on the south east coast from which the Churchill Barriers were constructed is now flooded and used as a fish farm.

In 1960 Domenico Chiocchetti (then residing in Moena, Italy) returned to Orkney to assist with a restoration project. - See more at: http://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/the-italian-chapel-p253741#sthash.hB47CGyO.dpuf