Accessing Scotland's Past Project
Event ID 562570
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Accessing Scotland's Past Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/562570
Crosshall cross is situated by the side of the road approximately 300m south-west of Crosshall farmhouse. It probably dates from the twelfth century, and is thought to be a memorial stone erected to mark the grave of an important person.
The cross is just under 3m high, and is inserted into a large block of stone that is itself over 1m in height. The shaft tapers towards the top, terminating in a disc on which a cross is carved on either side. Each side of the shaft bears carved decoration; a naked man and greyhound on the east side, and a coat of arms on the west, south and possibly the north side. On the west and north sides, there are also depictions of a carved cross. A sword is depicted on the south side.
The symbols carved on this cross suggest that the person whom it commemorates may have been to the Crusades and the coat of arms may represent the Soulis family. In the nineteenth century, local tradition recorded that it commemorated a governor of the nearby Hume Castle who had been killed in a skirmish.
Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project
