Dalmore Church. Part 1.

On Ordnance Survey maps of the area,the site of Dalmore Church( Remains of) is still shown.I have a copy of the 1852 map that resulted from a survey by two officers of the Royal Engineers which shows"Dalmore Church".I am particularly interested in this church as I was born on the very ground on which this edifice stood.Note the use of the past tense,as there is now no trace whatsoever of the church.I have made many appeals for information,written letters to the local newspaper and to the church synod but hard evidence about Dalmore Church has proved elusive(over many years).But I do have good anecdotal evidence,and in this case,that must suffice for now.
My grandfather,Glass,with others,including a local stonemason,took two summers to build the dwellings at 5 Dalmore.Strangely, they first built the byre and barn, before completing the 2/3 rooms for the family.Not so strange when you think of it!They could house both their cattle and themselves,this way.The walls of the old church provided stones of the right size and shape (mortar was not used in these buildings).My people maintain that much more than half of the church walls had disappeared before they decided to use "some of the stones"After all,the old church was on our croft! In those days, there was no time for sentiment,or history or preservation.If it's plunder on the grand scale,have a look at the Iron Age broch at Dun Carloway a few miles up the road.Bodach Glass ("old man") had heard that the church had been ruined twice in the past and the third time it would be completely annihilated.There was only one window of our house which faced the sea,a single skylight,and during World War Two, Old Glass was just a little nervous at the naval activity offshore.With half the house coming from that "unfortunate" church and the possibility of a direct hit from the large guns of a German cruiser ,the bodach was in no mood to tempt fate and hasten our demise. A thick coat of tar was hurriedly applied to the glass,and there it would remain until the house was vacated,and the roof collapsed.