| Location | |
|---|---|
  Lamb Holm Lamb Holm shown within the Orkney Islands | |
| OS grid reference | HY486003 |
| Coordinates | 58°53′N2°53′W / 58.89°N 2.89°W /58.89; -2.89 |
| Physical geography | |
| Island group | Orkney |
| Area | 40 hectares (0.15 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 220= [1] |
| Highest elevation | 20 metres (66 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Council area | Orkney Islands |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
 | |
| References | [2][3] |
Lamb Holm is a small uninhabitedisland inOrkney,Scotland, now connected to its neighbours by two of theChurchill Barriers. During the early 1940s it was the site of 'Camp 60', housing 550 Italian Prisoners of War who helped construct the causeways. Another legacy of their time on the island is theItalian Chapel, now the island's main attraction. A grass airfield occupies much of the island interior.
Lamb Holm is classified by theNational Records of Scotland as an uninhabited island that "had no usual residents at the time of either the 2001 or 2011 censuses."[4]
Lamb Holm lies in Holm Sound, one of the eastern entrances toScapa Flow, betweenMainland, Orkney and the island ofBurray,[5] It is 40 hectares (0.15 sq mi) in area.
TheChurchill Barriers carry the road fromSouth Ronaldsay toMainland, Orkney. Lamb Holm is connected toGlimps Holm, to the southwest, by Barrier number 2, and to Mainland by Barrier number 1.
The quarry used to build the Churchill Barriers has now been flooded and converted into afish farm.
On the northwest of the island, on the shore of St Mary's Bay, are the remains of a prehistoric settlement which have been designated as ascheduled monument.[6]
There is a Bronze Age Barrow mound on the island named as "Laughton's Knowe". The name may have evolved from an earlier form "Lachtane" or "Lauchtain" associated with Orkney but prior to the family of this name settling on the island following the impignoration in 1472 resulting in an influx of Scottish Tacksmen loyal to the Stewart King of Scots, it is likely to have had either no name at all or an entirely different reference.[7]
Built by Italian prisoners of war duringWorld War II, the highly ornamented Italian Chapel is now the island's main attraction. The chapel is a Category Alisted building.[8]
In 1942, more than 1300 Italian prisoners of war were captured in North Africa and taken toOrkney, where they remained until early 1945. Of these, 550 were taken to Camp 60, where they were put to work building theChurchill Barriers, four causeways created to block unwanted extra sea accesses toScapa Flow.
In 1943, Major T. P. Buckland, Camp 60's new commandant, and Father Giacombazzi, the Camp's priest agreed that a place of worship was required. Two Nissen huts were joined to form a makeshift chapel. The prisoners, under the leadership of prisoner Domenico Chiocchetti, did all of the work to transform a simple corrugated iron structure into a work of beauty. The chapel was lined with plasterwork and an altar was made out of concrete. Chiocchetti painted the sanctuary end of the chapel. The beauty that he created led to the prisoners decorating the entire interior and creating a front façade out of concrete that concealed the shape of the hut and made the building look like a church.
Outside the chapel is a concrete sculpture of St George, seated on a horse and slaying a dragon with a lance. This was made by Chiocchetti and other prisoners in early 1943. Reinforced by spare bits of barbed wire and made from the same concrete being used to build the Barriers, this was the first art project approved by Major Buckland. It was the success of this sculpture, thought to represent the 'slaying of all misunderstandings between people of different cultures', that encouraged Buckland to approve the Chapel itself.[9]
Since the prisoners' departure, several residents of Camp 60, including Chiocchetti, have made return visits to the chapel they created. In 1996 a declaration was jointly signed by officials in Orkney and Chiocchetti's hometown ofMoena, reinforcing the ties between the two places. The building has been preserved and is still used as a chapel.
58°53′23″N2°53′24″W / 58.88968°N 2.89005°W /58.88968; -2.89005
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