Description

The monument consists of a stone bearing cup marks and Pictish symbols, which was identified in 1880 and re-erected close to the entrance to the churchyard. On J Romilly Allen's categorisation, it is a Class I stone.

The stone bears symbols on both faces. The E-facing side is carved with a crescent and V-rod below 3 small circles. The W-facing side (referred to as the front in the published accounts) bears, from the top, a double-disc and Z-rod (the top of which is missing), and 2 crescent and V-rod symbols (the upper one of which is worn). The left-hand edge of the lower crescent and V-rod on the front, and the right-hand edge of that on the other face, are both missing, suggesting that the stone has been reduced in width at some date. There are 6 cup-marks on the stone, all on the E-facing side.

The stone is of mica schist, standing 1.3m high by 0.5m wide by 0.2m thick. The carvings were identified in 1880, at which date the slab formed a lintel in the parish church built in 1801. After it had been identified as a Pictish symbol stone, it was removed and set in a new base in the churchyard. Its history prior to 1801 is unknown, but in many cases Pictish symbol stones are associated with pre-Reformation churches and burial grounds, of which this is an example. The burial ground at Dingwall was attached to the important medieval parish church here.

The area to be scheduled is a circle 2m in diameter, centred on the stone but excluding the surface of the modern path. This is indicated in red on the accompanying map. It includes the symbol stone and a small portion of the burial ground.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a Class I Pictish Symbol Stone which also bears prehistoric carvings, sited in a burial ground of pre-Reformation origins. It can provide evidence for sculptural techniques in prehistoric and early historic Scotland, for burial customs in medieval and post-medieval Scotland, and for the purpose and meaning of these enigmatic Pictish sculptures.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded in the RCAHMS as NH 55 NW 7.

References:

Allen, J. R. (1903) Early Christian Monuments of Scotland, 56-'7.

RCAHMS (1979), List of Archaeological Sites and Monuments: Easter Ross, 26.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland