An iron heart

A friend is up visiting from south so we went to the Italian Chapel on Lambsholm. It was built by Italian prisoners of war who were being used (somewhat naughtily) by Churchill to build the barriers which now take his name. These barriers link the south eastern isles of Orkney together and now have roads running over them. However, despite what Churchill would have liked people to think about them being built to link communities together, they were built to keep U Boats out of the huge natural harbour of Scapa Flow.
The Italians were mostly Catholics and lacked a church to worship in. They were given two Nissen huts - the corrugated iron huts most of them lived in. An incredible set of men spent many hours painting the interior which is utterly spectacular. The details are fantastic. Virtually everything inside was begged, borrowed or stolen. A closer look reveals cast concrete fonts, walls and details.

However, this small iron heart is set into the floor, and I suspect is missed by most visitors as they are too busy looking up at the fantastic ceilings.