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St Molaise's Table
Cross Incised Rock (Early Medieval)
Site Name St Molaise's Table
Classification Cross Incised Rock (Early Medieval)
Canmore ID 40081
Site Number NS02NE 6
NGR NS 0586 2970
NGR Description NS 0586 2970
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/40081
- Council North Ayrshire
- Parish Kilbride
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Cunninghame
- Former County Buteshire
NS02NE 6.00 0586 2970
NS02NE 6.01 Rock: Cross-incised
A short distance from St Molaise's Cave, on the low ground is an almost circular sandstone rock; its top has been levelled, and four seats cut on the sides. At the S side of the rock, evidently, steps led up to the top, one of the steps being made out of the rock; at the N end a handgrip is cut on the upper edge, and lower down a foot- hold has been made. The diameter of the top is 7ft, the circumference, 31ft, and height 7ft 1in. On the E face, a cross with a ring top is cut. Some pilgrim crosses may also be seen. This stone is now locally called "St Molaise's Table"; Wilson (1863) refers to it as the "Saint's Chair", while another informant from Arran called it the "Judgement Stone".
At the lower side of this rock, there is placed a roughly chiselled stone with a shallow circular depression. Probably it was used for holy water.
J Balfour 1909; D Wilson 1863.
Field Visit (18 November 1977)
NS 0586 2970. This boulder rests on the shoreline just above high water mark in an area of scattered boulders and rock outcrop. It has a rough cube shape with sides of approximately 2.5m, but is otherwise as described. It has evidently been utilised, for whatever religious purpose, because of its fortuitous shape and close proximity to St Molaise's Cave and Well (NS02NE 4 and 5). The steps and seats could be artificially cut, but its flat top, featureless except for modern graffiti, is probably natural.
The ring top cross (fig 7), about 15 cms long, is just visible but badly weathered and several worn scratches nearby may be the remnants of the 'Pilgrims' crosses'. The alleged font, a shapeless slab with a depression probably caused by sea action, lies at the W base of the 'table' and is unconvincing as an antiquity.
St Molaise's Table: name verified.
Surveyed at 1:10 000.
Visited by OS (J R L) 18 November 1977.
Reference (2001)
This large flat-topped boulder of sandstone, also known as the 'Judgement Stone', is situated close to the shore and 8m N of St Molaise's Well, a natural spring which was formerly regarded as a holy well (1). It measures 2.2m high and about 2.6m square, and at the SE angle there are rock-cut steps, while two hollows at the SW angle and two more at the NE are identified as seats. On an oblique face at the NE angle there is an incised cross 110mm high and 80mm in span. Its top arm terminates in an oval 20mm to 25mm across, and the side arms in small hollows, while the shaft rises from a firmly-cut horizontal bar. The shaft is formed by a pronounced V-section groove, while the cross-arms are less deeply cut. The carving is surrounded by later initials, and it is possible that it was itself a mason's mark, but an early date seems more probable. A block of basalt containing a shallow basin 0.28m in diameter lies at the foot of the stone.
(Balfour 1910, 1, 258-9).
Footnote:
(1) Mitchell 1898, 18; Headrick 1807, 80-1.
I Fisher 2001, 63-5.
