Tiree, Soroby, Maclean's Cross

NL94SE 6.1 9839 4164.

(NL 9839 4164) MacLean's Cross (NR) (Erroneous application).

OS 1:10,000 map, (1976)

Within Cladh Sorobaidh, and standing erect in what is presumably the original socket-stone, is a ponderous cruciform slab bearing a cross (nl94se 6.01) in bold relief on each face. It measures 1.27m high, 0.80m in maximum width, and (excluding the boss on the front) 0.25m in thickness. The socket-stone is at present below ground but was partly exposed by excavation on the date of visit to allow the accompanying drawing to be made. The edges of the slab and of both crosses are ornamented with heavy cable-moulding, and on the top of the upper arm of the slab is a low, plain, rectangular projection - probably a degenerate imitation of the cap-stone, usually shaped like a small house or shrine, that frequently occurs on Irish high crosses. The lightly incised foliaceous scrolls on the shaft of the cross on the front of the monument are out of keeping with the rest of the decoration, and the assumption that they have been added at a later date is reinforced by the fact that they do not extend to the foot of the shaft but terminate at the present ground-level.

There is a second Early Christian stone in Cladh Sorobaidh (NL94SE 6.03); re-used as a headstone, it is a thin slab, 0.47 m high by 0.38 m in maximum width, on one face of which is incised a linear ringed cross with a stem ending in a crosslet. It is possible that the stubby 'arms' on each side of the head of the slab are original, but there was evidently no upper arm since the line representing the shaft extends on to the top edge of the stone.

RCAHMS 1980, visited 1974; E Beveridge 1903.