Standing Building Recording
Date October 2011 - December 2011
Event ID 992775
Category Recording
Type Standing Building Recording
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/992775
NS 08781 64585 (NS06SE 3.00) This collection was assessed October – December 2011. A number of non-architectural stones are included in the collection, such a canonballs and mortars or querns. Among the architectural stones, one very elaborate stone stands out. It forms a canopy, and possibly originally came from a free standing location, probably associated with an image. Four miniature gables are worked along the lower edge, and the upper section is slightly tilted. A low-relief form on the outer face may be part of a scroll, or hunting horn. The underside of the canopy is angled and roughly finished.
There is also a pair of elaborate vault bosses in the collection, and each of these covered the junction of eight ribs, and therefore came from an elaborate vault, maybe over the great hall on the first floor of the castle. The attached vault ribs are highly eroded, but their profiles alternate between larger and smaller ribs, with the smaller ribs simply moulded with chamfers, and the larger ones with a broad axial fillet flanked on each side by a chamfer, hollow, and a short chamfer leading to the vertical side of the rib. The ends of two ribs are keyed to provide a secure junction with adjacent lengths of vault rib. The outer face of the boss is badly damaged, but would originally have had decorative carving.
This and other inventories of carved stones at Historic Scotland’s properties in care are held by Historic Scotland’s Collections Unit. For further information please contact hs.collections@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Southend
Mary Márkus, Archetype
2012