South Ronaldsay, St Peter's Church
Church (17th Century) (1642)
Site Name South Ronaldsay, St Peter's Church
Classification Church (17th Century) (1642)
Alternative Name(s) South Ronaldsay, North Kirk; South Ronaldsay, Old Kirk; Kirkhouse Point
Canmore ID 9604
Site Number ND49SE 27
NGR ND 47071 90844
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/9604
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish South Ronaldsay
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
St Peter’s Church, South Ronaldsay, Pictish symbol stone fragment
Measurements: H 1.52m, W 0.54m, D 0.10m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: HY 4701 9084
Present location: National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh (X. IB.2)
Evidence for discovery: found around 1850 re-used as a sill in one of the windows of St Peter’ s Church and presented to NMAS in 1853. The church was built in 1642.
Present condition: one long edge of the slab has been trimmed away and both broad faces are worn, face C more so than face A, which may suggest that it had previously lain in the churchyard with face A downwards.
Description
Despite the weathering, it is clear that this stone had been firmly and confidently incised with two large Pictish symbols on each broad face. Face A bears a rectangle above a crescent & V-rod, both with fine curvilinear internal ornament, while face C shows a crescent & V-rod above a circular disc with notched rectangle (‘mirror symbol’), neither of which appears to have had much in the way of internal decoration.
Date: seventh century.
References: Stuart 1856, 30, pl 96; ECMS pt 3, 20-1; Ritchie, J N G 2003, 118-19; Fraser 2008, no 173; Scott & Ritchie 2014, no 6.
Compiled by A Ritchie 2017
Field Visit (August 1997)
St. Peter's Church (also known as North Kirk) was built in 1642 and renovated in 1801. It is a long, narrow building, harled on the exterior, with a belfry. It has round- headed windows inset (with dates) over the doorway on the seaward side. The graveyard contains several tombstones of mid-17th C date. A Pictish carved stone, now in NMAS, was once built into the window sill of the church.
Moore and Wilson, 1997
Coastal Zone Assessment Survey
Field Visit (24 April 2007)
We were commissioned to conduct an archaeological deskbased assessment and walkover survey of an area, prior to a private dwelling development. This work was undertaken on 24 April 2007. The area lies on Kirkhouse Point, immediately S of a grade A-listed church set in a burial ground (ND49SE 27,
ND49SE 23).
ND 47001 90828 Wall and midden in N end sand quarry
ND 47025 90814 Occupation layers and structures in S end
sand quarry
ND 47164 90920 Mound to NE of cemetery
ND 47127 90892 Wall E of cemetery
The survey noted previously unrecorded extensive and complex archaeology with structures visible in the sand dune W of the church and a low grass-covered mound and a short length of curving rubble wall in the E. In light of these findings the development plans were abandoned.
Reports deposited with Orkney SMR and RCAHMS.
Funder: Mr and Mrs Critchlow
J Robertson 2007
