Description

The monument comprises an upright stone cross slab and an area around it where there is high potential for human burials. The stone probably dates to between AD 700 and 1000, while burial at the site may have begun earlier in the 1st millennium AD. The stone is a large rectangular slab, aligned N-S. It stands approximately 2.5m high and measures 0.8m by 0.25m at the base. The E and W faces of the stone each bear an incised cross with round hollow angles between the arms; weathering has affected the visibility of the cross shaft on the W face. Historical sources contain repeated references to discoveries of human bone made near the stone in the 18th and 19th centuries, including bone found within a stone cist, reportedly with simple crosses carved on the end slabs. The stone stands on a low rise to the E of Alloa, at about 20m above sea level.

The scheduled area is rectangular on plan, measuring 20m N-S by 14m E-W, to include the remains described above and an area around them in which evidence for the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduled area extends no more than 4m to the W of the stone because old maps indicate there was a quarry beyond here in the late 19th century. The monument was first scheduled in 1970, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

This monument is of national importance as an example of a large and impressive cross slab associated with a cemetery known from historical sources. The cross slab is an impressive stone in its own right and has the capacity to add significantly to our appreciation and understanding of the past. There is also high potential for the presence of buried archaeological deposits and features, including further human burials, in the vicinity of the stone. This monument therefore has high potential to enhance our understanding of early medieval religious and funerary activities, specifically the relationship between carved stones and cemeteries, and can also inform our knowledge of the population that used the associated cemetery. The loss of this example would impede our ability to understand the use and function of stone cross slabs in eastern Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NS99SW 11.

Allen, J R and Anderson, J, 1903 The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh, Part III, 376.

Erskine, J 1722-1730 Plan of Alloa The Seat of The Lord Mar etc. In The Shire of Clackmanan In Scotland 20 miles from Edinbrugh & 4 From Stirling

Miller, P 1889 'Notices of the standing stones of Alloa and Clackmannan', Poc Soc Antiq Scot 23, 153-164

Mitchell, S Anderson, S and Johnson, M 2010 The Excavation of a multi-period site at Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Tayside and Fife Arch Jour 16, 30-47.

New Statistical Account, 1845 Parish of Alloa, vol 8.

Old Statistical Account 1791-1799 Parish of Alloa, vol 8.

RCAHMS 1933, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Eleventh report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the Counties of Fife, Kinross, and Clackmannan, Edinburgh, 314, no 596.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland