Tom Na Croise
Cross (Period Unknown)
Site Name Tom Na Croise
Classification Cross (Period Unknown)
Canmore ID 23627
Site Number NN11SE 1
NGR NN 17567 12355
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/23627
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Lochgoilhead And Kilmorich
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NN11SE 1 1756 1235.
(NN 1755 1232) Cross (NR)
OS 6" map, Argyll, 2nd ed., (1900)
A slate slab, standing on the summit of the knoll called Tom na Croise, bears a rough carving of a cross. It is said to have been erected by the people of Glen Shira when they worshipped at the chapel at Clachan (NN11SE 3). This was the first place from which they would obtain a view of the chapel after leaving Glen Shira.
Name Book 1871.
Field Visit (7 March 1973)
A stone, roughly hewn to the shape of a cross, 0.6m high, 0.6m wide and about 0.08m thick. On both sides, a cross, 0.15m in width and height has been cut.
Visited by OS (D W R) 7 March 1973.
Field Visit (May 1987)
This stone stands on Tom na Croise ('Mound of the Cross'),a slight knoll at an elevation of 315m above the steep NW hillside at the head of Loch Fyne and 1.4km WSW of the medieval site of Kilmorich parish church at Clachan (No. 74).A tradition was recorded in 1871 that it was erected by the people of Glen Shira when they worshipped at Clachan, on the first spot from which the church could be seen (en.1), but the existing burial-ground is not visible from the knoll although the adjacent wood to the NE can be identified.
The stone, which is of local epidiorite, is now set in a rough slot formed by smaller stones, and faces SE and NW, but an earth-fast slab at the SW end of this slot is evidently its broken butt, and it formerly faced NE and SW. It stood about 1m above ground-level, the surviving main portion and the butt being respectively 0.82m and more than 0.35m in height. The cruciform outline is roughly formed, the span being 0.68m and the shaft tapering from 0.42m in width below the slightly rounded armpits to 0.38m at the butt. At the centre of each face there is an equal-armed cross with rounded terminals, formed by shallow grooves about 25mm wide.
RCAHMS 1992, visited May 1987
External Reference (January 1989)
Has been placed against wall of Kilmorich church, Cairndow.
Information from Cowal Archaeol Soc to RCAHMS, January 1989.
Reference (2001)
This irregular cruciform stone stands on Tom na Croise ('Mound of the Cross'), at an elevation of 315m above the head of Loch Fyne and 1.4km WSW of the medieval church-site of Kilmorich, Clachan (No.74). It measured over 1.2m by 0.68m, and the broken butt remains earthfast close to the main part. At the centre of each face is an incised equal-armed cross with rounded terminals.
I Fisher 2001, 151.
