Rosemarkie, Church Place, Rosemarkie Parish Church, Cross Slab
Cross Slab (8th Century) - (9th Century)(Possible)
Site Name Rosemarkie, Church Place, Rosemarkie Parish Church, Cross Slab
Classification Cross Slab (8th Century) - (9th Century)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Rosemarkie Churchyard, No. 6; Nms Ib 128
Canmore ID 14398
Site Number NH75NW 7.06
NGR NH 7372 5763
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/14398
- Council Highland
- Parish Rosemarkie
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Ross And Cromarty
- Former County Ross And Cromarty
Rosemarkie 6, Ross & Cromarty, possible architectural carved stone
Measurements: H 0.30m, W 0.36m, D 0.18m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: NH 7372 5763
Present location: National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh (IB 128), on loan to Groam House Museum.
Evidence for discovery: found in the churchyard at Rosemarkie and given to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland in 1885.
Present condition: good.
Description
Carved in relief on this largely unshaped boulder is an equal-armed cross superimposed on a broad ring. The stone appears to have been trimmed to fit the lower part of the ring, and the intention may have been to trim it all round and to insert it into the wall of a church. The cross is outlined by an inner incised line, and there is a large hollow encircled by a line in the centre of the cross, with smaller encircled hollows in each arm. The Hendersons suggest that these hollows may have held inlays. At the base of the lower arm is a short triangular tenon.
Date: eighth or ninth century.
References: Henderson & Henderson 2004, 210-11; Seright & Henderson 2013, 12.
Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2017.
NH75NW 7.06 7372 5763
No. 6. A fragment of what may be the head of a Class 3 cross, measuring 14 3/4ins x 11 1/2ins, and bearing on one face an equal-armed Latin cross in a circle. Found in the churchyard, and donated to the Royal Museum of Scotland (RMS, formerly the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland ([NMAS]) by Rev C Macdowall in 1885 (Accession no. IB 128).
NMAS, 1892; RCAHMS 1979.
Field Visit (June 1979)
Rosemarkie, Carved Stones NH c. 737 576 NH75NW 7
The discovery of numerous 'Pictish' carved stones in the vicinity of Rosemarkie church indicates that this site was one of considerable importance during Early Christian times. Of the nine items described below (1) is in Groam House, High Street, Rosemarkie; (2) and (6)-(8) are in the tool-shed at Rosemarkie church; (3)-(5) are in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland; and (9) is in Inverness Museum.
(6) Two fragments remain of this sandstone slab which bears an outline Latin cross with rounded armpits and concave-ended sidearms.
RCAHMS 1979, visited June 1979
Allen and Anderson 1903, iii, 63-8, 85-8; Macdonald and Laing 1970, 137; Henderson 1971, 50-2
