Description of stone
Event ID 1008422
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1008422
Reay 1 St Colman), Caithness, cross-slab
Measurements: H 1.93m, W 0.70m, D 0.09m
Stone type: grey sandstone
Place of discovery: NC 9691 6483
Present location: set into the W wall of the old parish church at Reay.
Evidence for discovery: found in the adjacent burial ground, re-used for an 18th century grave. Sometime before 1910 it was moved into its present position, and at some date in the late 20th century the inscription was inexpertly obliterated.
Present condition: very worn and damaged.
Description
The slab was shaped to form a rounded top and was apparently carved on one side only. The cross, carved in relief, fills the available space within a narrow roll moulding, which does not continue above the top edge of the horizontal arms. The cross-head has a triple ring and the small, almost closed, armpits contain single pellets. The horizontal arms are shorter than the upper arm and are filled with key pattern. The decoration in the upper arm is largely removed, except for traces above the central roundel which suggest that it was filled with interlace pattern. The roundel is badly damaged but within a roll moulding are traces of a quadruple spiral. The short shaft is filled with a single-strand interlace pattern and the base with a key pattern.
Date: ninth or tenth century.
Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2016
