Description

The monument consists of a cross-incised stone slab 1.98m high, and stands within a burial ground which in 1871 also contained the remains of a medieval chapel.

The slab, of grey stone, measures 1.98m high by 0.53m NW-SE by 0.15m SW-NE. It leans from the vertical by approximately ten degrees towards the NE. It has a single cross incised on the SW face. The cross has circular discs at the ends of the lateral arms and the upper arm terminates in 2 diverging spirals. There is no way of discerning whether the carving of the cross dates to the time of the erection of the stone or is secondary to this. The fact that the

cross faces SW suggests that the stone may either have been re- erected since the Reformation or mark the re-use of an earlier standing stone.

The cross slab stands approximately at the centre of the burial ground, but this has been enlarged within the last century, and the stone would have been near the NW boundary of the earlier enclosure. It is surrounded by lairs in recent use, although the cross slab itself stands within a small area which is clear of burials. None

of the recent lairs seems to reach within 2.5m of it. The cross slab lies close to the location within the burial ground likely to have been favoured by the builders of the medieval chapel, and it is possible that the stone stands immediately S of the site of this.

The area proposed for scheduling is shown in red on the enclosed map, and measures 5m by 5m, centred on the cross slab, and with the edges of the square aligned parallel with the walls of the surrounding burial ground. It includes the cross slab and an area surrounding it which may provide evidence for the method and date of the erection of the stone, for early burials, and possibly of the former church.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a standing stone of medieval or earlier date bearing an incised cross of medieval date, standing within a burial ground of ancient foundation. It has the potential to contribute to our understanding of medieval and post-medieval ecclesiastical organisation and burial practices.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Batey, C. E. (1984) Caithness Coastal Survey 1980-82 (Durham University, Dept of Archaeology), 38 and 85 (entry LAT 226).

RCAHMS, Inventory of Monuments in Caithness (1911), 81 (monument 295).

Source: Historic Environment Scotland