Hi Lofty,
Does this throw any light on the subject?
"In the fields between Workington and Harrington,
about a mile from the former town, is an
ancient roofless building, generally known as the
Old Chapel, and called by mariners How Michael.
Pennant mentions having noticed " on an eminence
near the sea, a small tower, called Holme-
Chapel, said to have been built as a watch-tower,
to mark the motions of the Scots in their naval
inroads:" but it is much more probable that it
has been, as its name imports, the chantry chapel •
which was granted (with some land) by Queen
Elizabeth, in the 17th year of her reign, to Per-
cival Gunson and John Soukey, and described as "
three acres of land called Chapel Flatt, in
Workington, and also one chapel, together with
one acre of land there." There is a tradition that
the sea formerly flowed round this building. The
masonry is rude: the ground floor is arched; and
a narrow winding staircase, sufficient only for the
passage of one person, leads to the upper floor.
The windows are narrow loopholes, excepting
two on the land side, which are of larger dimension,
but destitute of all ornament. The building
is useful to mariners as a land-mark; from its
conspicuous situation on a high land near the
shore it forms a prominent object along the coast."
linksource: an extract from Google books - The History and Antiquities of Allerdale Ward, Above Derwent, in Cumberland. by Samuel Jefferson. (wonder if he was related to Stan Laurel from Laurel & Hardy?)
Regards
Rewcastle
