Oronsay Priory, interior, from the west. View of grave-slab lined up along wall.

Description Oronsay Priory, interior, from the west. View of grave-slab lined up along wall.

Date 26/6/1895

Collection Papers of Erskine Beveridge, antiquarian, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 740735

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of AG 1721

Scope and Content Grave-slabs, North Wall of Priory Church, Oronsay Priory, Argyll & Bute The ruins of Oronsay Priory stand at the west end of the small island of Oronsay, accessible by foot from its larger neighbour, Colonsay, at low tide. The priory was founded by John I, Lord of the Isles, between 1325 and 1353 as an Augustinian community, but little is known about its subsequent history. The building seems to have progressed intermittently through the 14th and 15th centuries, but by the early 17th century it was in a ruinous condition. The Victorian photographer, Erskine Beveridge, photographed the priory and its funerary monuments and crosses c.1897. This collection of late medieval stones are grave-slabs dating from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Most have the familiar tapered shape and measure approximately 2m in length by 0.5m in width. Some are half the normal size and presumably covered the graves of children. In the 19th century the stones were displayed inside the church but they were originally laid at floor- or turf-level over graves dug in the ground. They are richly decorated with plant scrolls, swords, ships and animals, with inscriptions in Latin and Gaelic. Others carry effigies, figures of men in armour carved in high relief. The priory has a collection of over 30 memorial stones that are important examples of the richly decorated late medieval grave-slabs that occur throughout the Western Isles of Scotland. Apart from a few pieces, they fall into two distinct groups. The first consists of 11 imported carved stones, ten of which are products of the Iona school of sculpture while the other was made in the Loch Sween workshop. They all date to and before 1500. In contrast, the 17 monuments that comprise the second group were all made on Oronsay between 1500 and 1560. The profusion and rich variety of decoration of the slabs provides an invaluable record of the style of dress of the inhabitants of the region of that period, of the weapons they carried, of their animals and pets, and the tools and other objects in daily use. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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