Lunch is for wimps

Much of the UK was covered in thick fog although for some reason Edinburgh woke up to clear skies so I was going to use the opportunity to head out and take the last of the autumnal colours before they disappeared. Before I did though I headed into the Parliament to meet up with F for lunch admiring the gorgeous weather over the Craggs. An hour later I came out to see the fog had descended over the city and so scuppered my plans for an afternoon of photography.

This week's Blip Challenge theme is remnant so instead I decided I would head into Holyrood Park where there are the remnants of St Anthony's Chapel sitting over the St Margaret's Loch. 

Surprisingly little is known about the origins of St Anthony's Chapel. From the 1100s, ownership of the land now forming Holyrood Park was divided between the abbeys at Kelso and Holyrood, and it is thought that the area occupied by the chapel was owned by Kelso Abbey.
Despite this, it seems very likely that St Anthony's Chapel was closely associated with Holyrood Abbey, which stood just a few hundred yards away to the north west. The two were linked by a well-made stone track (now heavily worn) with prominent kerbstones that can in places still be seen, and about three quarters of the way along this track up to the chapel is the spring and carved stone bowl known as St Anthony's Well.

It's tempting to think of St Anthony's Chapel as an outlying chapel for Holyrood Abbey, perhaps constructed as a means of getting pilgrims out from under the feet of the monks in the abbey. It has also been suggested that the chapel served as a sort of religious beacon, designed to be clearly visible to sea-borne pilgrims coming to Holyrood Abbey as they sailed up the River Forth.