Sandness Description of stone
Event ID 1014807
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1014807
Sandness, Shetland, Pictish symbol stone
Measurements: H c 1.10m, W c 0.41m, D c 0.08m
Stone type:
Place of discovery: HU c 1912 5765
Present location: lost.
Evidence for discovery: the stone was seen and sketched by George Low in 1774, when it was in the wall of the church at Sandness, evidently with the carved face outwards. The church was demolished in 1792 and a new one built, and the stone was lost (or built into the new church) by the time that Sir Henry Dryden searched for it in the mid nineteenth century.
Present condition:
Description
This was a rectangular slab with three Pictish symbols incised upon one broad face. There was a rectangle with simple internal ornament over an arch or horseshoe symbol, and below was a large mirror symbol with a double-ball handle.
Date: seventh century.
References: Low 1879, 121; Ritchie 1997, 36-7; Fraser 2008, no 199; Scott & Ritchie 2009, no 1.
Compiled by A Ritchie 2016
