Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016601
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016601
Covan church contains one of the finest, but least known, collections of Early Christian stones in Scotland. Originally, the stones lay in the graveyard but in 1926 they were moved into the church to preserve them from further decay. There are some forty-one stones in all and for the purposes of description they have been divided into a number of groups.
1. Sarcophagus.
The most unusual and interesting of the stones is the lower half of a sarcophagus which lies in the chancel. Its four sides are elaborately decorated with animals and interlace, the inspiration for which is derived from both Pictish and Anglian (Northumbrian) sources. The sarcophagus cannot be cloesly dated but it was probably carved in the 10th or 11th century.
2 Hogback Tombstones.
Five hogbacks are present in Covan Church and this constitutes the largest single collection of this unusual type of grave-slab in Scotland. The stones are exceptionally large and take the form of a bow-sided, rectangular house with a distinctive curve to the roof-ridge (hence the tenn hogback). On the upper part of the stones the decoration consists of representations of wooden shingles (roof-tiles) and beasts (usually interpreted as bears). Although the ultimate origin for this tomb-type lies in Viking Scandinavia, they were probably introduced to Scotland and northern England via the Norse settlements in Ireland, and all five were carved in the 10th century.
3 Cross-shafts.
The church contains fragments of two standing crosses, both of which have lost their cross-heads, and only parts of the cross-shafts now survive. The better preserved shaft, which stood for a while at Jordanhill, is 1.68m high and copiously decorated. One of the faces bears a man on horseback, while elsewhere the decoration is principally of panels of different forms of interlace. The second cross is badly damaged and is decorated with interlace, but in one panel there is a scene representing St Paul and St Anthony breaking bread in the desert. These two stones are probably the earliest in Govan and dale to about AD 900. Crosses of this type were usually commemorative and were dedicated to a local Celtic saint.
4. Upright Crosses.
Unlike the two cross-shafts, the two uplight crosses in the church marked the positions of individual interments, standing either at the head or foot of the grave. The more interesting of the two has a cross on its front face filled with interlaced grooved plaits flanked by intertwined serpents, and below there is a panel containing a horseman canying a spear. On the back the principal feature is a boss with four serpents (a similar feature,but with two serpents, appears on the Hamilton Cross, no. 65). The upright crosses dale to about the 10th century.
5. Recumbent Slabs.
The largest group of stones at Govan complise recumbent slabs or grave-narkers which are placed around the walls of the church. The rectangular or oval slabs were laid over the grave and, in some cases, may have been accompanied by a headstone or cross. The decoration normally consists of a central cross and interlace; at Govan the quality of this decoration is rather indifferent but this is compensated for by the wide range of motifs employed. Grave-markers of this type are not closely datable and the Govan stones probably belong to the period AD 900- 1200.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).
