Hallmuir Ukrainian Prisoner of War Chapel

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Reference WMO/279111

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Hallmuir Chapel

Hallmuir

DG11 1BN

Scotland

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Status: On original site
Type: Freestanding
Location: External
Setting: Roadside
Description: Chapel/church
Materials:
  • Glass Glass
  • Metal Metal (any)
  • Metal Iron
  • Other Other
  • Other Concrete
  • Timber Timber (any)
Lettering: Other
Conflicts:
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
About the memorial: Chapel. Only 1 of 2 Prisoner of War Chapels in Scotland and regarded as being as important as the much better known Italian Chapel, Orkney. There is also an interpretation board. Accessed from Junction 18 (Lockerbie South) on the M74 then country lanes. The Historic Environment Scotland description is- 1942. Single storey, pitched roof, prefabricated hut forming Ukrainian Prisoner of War chapel. Painted corrugated asbestos on timber frame and concrete base. Timber door to N with flanking windows; former electricity pylon above; 2 windows each to E and W elevations. 4- and 6-pane timber windows. Corrugated asbestos roof. INTERIOR: 6 bays divided by simple kingposted roof trusses. Timber partition forming altar-screen at S end; round-arched opening at centre through to High Altar; square-headed openings to sides. Timber pews, altars, lectern and other furnishings. Ceiling painted blue with gold stars MEMORIAL: by entrance. Timber post on concrete base, bearing plastic plaque inscribed, in Ukrainian and English "This chapel was created by Ukrainian POWs during their internment here after World War 2". n use as an ecclesiastical building. This is the best preserved building surviving in the former Prisoner of War camp, 68 Working Camp, Halmuir Farm. Four other buildings from the camp still exist (two of these are formed from several huts joined together), but they are in a rather dilapidated condition. The camp probably dates from the early 1940s, and originally had 40 buildings. The Ukrainian POWs arrived here after the war in 1947, and previous to that it had been occupied by German and Italian POWs. This building is known to have been used as a chapel by the Italians. After the Ukrainians arrived, they fitted out the chapel in an enthusiastic, if necessarily make-shift manner. Paintings by the POWs hang on the walls, the candlesticks were made out of shell fragments, the banners flanking the altar were made out of the Italians? tents, and on the high altar stands a replica of a Ukrainian Cathedral, which was carved with a penknife. What is perhaps most unusual, is that the chapel remained in use after the camp was disbanded, and services in Ukrainian are still held here several times a year. This chapel is a truly remarkable survival, and is of significant historic importance. The only other surviving POW chapel in Scotland, is the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm, Orkney. Although the Ukrainian chapel lacks the artistic achievements of the Italian Chapel, it is an equally evocative reminder of wartime spirit, and the way the prisoners found ways to overcome the privations of their situation.
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