Kirriemuir 3 Description of stone
Event ID 1033987
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1033987
Kirriemuir 3 (St Mary), Angus, Pictish cross-slab fragment
Measurements: H 0.68m, W 0.50m, D 0.12m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: NO 3895 5448
Present location: Meffan Museum and Gallery, Forfar
Evidence for discovery: found re-used in the foundations of the old parish church when it was demolished in 1787 and taken to the new cemetery.
Present condition: broken top and bottom and worn and face B is missing.
Description
The central portion of a cross-slab, this fragment is carved in relief with incised details. Face A shows a cross, the arms of which extend into the flat-band border, with squared armpits. The cross is filled with interlinked Stafford knots formed of median-incised cords. On either side of the shaft is an entwined serpent with a head at either end of its body, which also has a median incised line.
Face C has a flat-band border incised with square key pattern, which encloses a single panel with a horseman facing left and the legs of another horse above him. The surviving rider is wearing a helmet, circular shield and sword and carrying a spear. A hound is in front of the horse, and there is median-incised knotwork filling the space around the hind-quarters of the horse. Narrow face D bears a panel of median-incised interlace.
Date range: ninth or tenth century.
Primary references: ECMS pt 3, 258-60; RCAHMS 2003.
Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2018
