Jordanhill Description of stone
Event ID 1019969
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1019969
Jordanhill , Govan (St Constantine), Renfrewshire, cross-shaft
Measurements: H 1.68m, W 0.47m, D 0.22m
Stone type: yellow sandstone
Place of discovery: NS c 537 683
Present location: in the west end of the nave of Govan Old Parish Church, Glasgow.
Evidence for discovery: in the mid nineteenth century the cross-shaft stood in the grounds of Jordanhill House, but it was said to have been taken there from Govan when the old church was demolished in 1762. In 1928 the shaft was returned to Govan and placed inside the church beside the pulpit, and in 1965 it was moved into the north aisle. One of 47 carved stones known to have existed at Govan.
Present condition: broken at the top and possibly the base, and the head is missing.
Description
The major part of a shaft, the top is broken just below the missing head, where the plain? flatband border starts to turn in. It is carved in relief on all four faces. Face A bears a narrow panel of six-cord plait at top and base, and there is a plain panel beneath which may have been designed for an inscription. The large central panel contains a horseman facing left above a dense ten-cord plait of double-beaded cord. Face C bears four panels of varied forms of interlace, including one of key pattern, with a central plain band or label. Face B is divided into two long panels of double-beaded interlace, while face D has a single long panel of continuous double-beaded interlace.
Date: eighth to tenth century.
References: Stirling Maxwell 1899, no 7; ECMS pt 3, 459-60; Fisher 1994, 47, fig 22; Davidson Kelly 1994, 15-16.
Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2017
