Conservation
Date 2004
Event ID 1000764
Category Building History
Type Conservation
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1000764
NX 7 47 474 During 2004-5, the inventory of a collection of carved stone at Dundrennan Abbey, begun in 2003 (DES 2004,
39), was continued. This large collection is presently stored in various locations at the abbey. The stones covered so far are set out in the vaulted cellars on the W side of the cloisters, with some additional items retrieved from a sheeted area to the SE of the cloisters. New storage benches have been set up in the cellars, and this has enabled the collection to be rationalised, with stones being grouped according to their function.
Many of the stones catalogued during 2005 were found during archaeological investigations by Kirkdale Archaeology in the early 1990s, and a large proportion of these are vault ribs and their springers, with one or two related keystones. The ribs are very simply moulded with chamfered corners, and from the remains of the monks' day room with its octagonal column, vault ribs of this type were probably used here and in neighbouring areas. This large group of ribs can be sub-divided into three groups, according to variations in the basic dimensions of width and depth and, unlike most of the other stones in the collection, there are many masons' marks remaining.
Another interesting fragment has a rectangular socket in its upper surface, and has panels of decorative low-relief carving on all four sides (one rather sketchily worked). The underside is roughly worked flat around the edges, with the central area more roughly finished. This may once have supported a vertical element such as a cross, with a projecting section on the underside (now broken away) to stabilise the stone.
Inventory: October 2003 onwards, still continuing; 520 pieces catalogued by November 2005; 12th-15th century; NX74NW 1.
Archive held by HS and in NMRS.
See also www.arch-etype.net.
Sponsor: HS
M Markus 2005
