Ballachly

Ballachy 1, Caithness, cross-slab fragment

Measurements: H 0.30m, W 0.46m, D 0.15m

Stone type: sandstone

Place of discovery: ND 1572 3049

Present location:

Evidence for discovery: found in September 1996 during the demolition of the wall of an outbuilding at Ballachy, Dunbeath.

Present condition: broken with surface damage.

Description

This is the top portion of a cross-slab, carved on one face with an incised cross. The three surviving arms of the cross are slender with expanded terminals, each with an inner line at the terminal. The top arm is complete and has a hook formed of two lines hanging from the right-hand corner of the terminal, resembling a chi-rho, and a circle infilled with four intersecting lines from the left-hand corner. The latter circle is repeated on the right-hand corner of the left arm, and a plain circle at the left-hand corner of the right arm. Between the upper and right arms is an incised fish with a fin and a medial line along the body.

Date: eighth century.

Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2016

Ballachy 2, Caithness, cross-slab fragments

Measurements:

Stone type: sandstone

Place of discovery: ND 1572 3049

Present location:

Evidence for discovery: found c AD 2000 built into a wall at Ballachy.

Present condition: broken but carving in good condition.

Description

Three small fragments of a possible cross-arm, carved in relief with a single-cord interlace forming its own frame.

Date: eighth or ninth century.

Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2016