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Govan carved stones Description of collection
Event ID 1085681
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1085681
Govan
The original church at Govan, beside the great Clyde waterway, was probably founded with royal patronage sometime in the ninth century and dedicated to St Constantine. A total of 46 early medieval carved stones has been recorded at Govan, of which 34 survive today, largely intact, and more may yet come to light (three stones thought to be lost were recently found by excavation). The star of the collection is a solid stone sarcophagus, richly carved but sadly lacking its lid, which was probably equally splendid for this was a monument to be seen not buried. There are parts of two free-standing crosses and two upright cross-slabs, and five huge hogback gravestones remarkable for their tegulated sides resembling house-tiles and their end-beast guardians. In addition, there is a fine series of 21 recumbent cross-slabs, ornamented only on their upper face. Many of the latter slabs were reused as gravestones in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by adding dates and initials, sometimes full names. Most of the collection is displayed within Govan Old Parish Church.
Primary references: ECMS pt 3, 462-71; Ritchie ed 1994.
A Ritchie 2019
