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St Madoes, Church Session House, Cross-slab
Cross Slab (Early Medieval)
Site Name St Madoes, Church Session House, Cross-slab
Classification Cross Slab (Early Medieval)
Canmore ID 28208
Site Number NO12SE 21
NGR NO 196 211
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/28208
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish St Madoes
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
St Bride’s Chapel 2, Loch Lubnaig, Perthshire, cross-slab fragment
Measurements: H
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: NN 5850 0981
Present location: set into the restored south wall of the chapel.
Evidence for discovery: found during the restoration of the chapel in 1971.
Present condition: very weathered, top left corner missing.
Description
This slab bears a plain outline cross, the side arms of which extend out the edges of the stone.
Date: eighth or ninth century.
References: none.
Compiled by A Ritchie 2016
St Madoes 2, Perthshire, cross-slab fragments
Measurements: H 0.86m, W 0.53m, D 0.10m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: NO 196 211
Present location: lost
Evidence for discovery: discovered built into the wall of the Session House at St Madoes in 1881 and removed at the instigation of J Romilly Allen. What happened to them thereafter is not known.
Present condition:
Description
These two trimmed slabs formed the upper portion of a cross-slab carved in relief on all four faces. Much of the surface of both broad faces had been removed, which suggests that the ornament was in relatively high relief and a flat surface was required for the reuse of the slab. Face A bore a ringed cross with very short arms and decorative armpits, and a triquetra knot was carved in the space on either side of the upper arm. Face C had a larger triquetra knot in the top right corner and the rest of the face had been obliterated. The two narrow faces bore four-cord plaits.
Date: ninth or tenth century.
References: ECMS pt3, 328-9.
Compiled by A Ritchie 2016
N012SE 21 196 211.
For Pictish cross-slab (now in Perth Museum) from St Madoes churchyard (NO 1966 2119), see NO12SE 15.
The upper part of an upright cross-slab of sandstone, which was built into the wall of the session-house at St Madoes Church, was removed in 1881 and placed in the churchyard. It is nearly rectangular, but split down the middle. It is 2'10" high by 1'9" wide by 4" thick sculptured in relief on four faces.
J R Allen 1903.
Field Visit (9 June 1964)
This stone was lost between 1923-29, possibly when the old graveyard was extended. Nothing is known of its present whereabouts. (Information from Rev H K MacDonald, The Manse, St Madoes)
Visited by OS (W D J) 9 June 1964.
Note (15 December 1992)
This cross-slab is now missing; it had been built into the wall of the session-house of St Madoes Church (NO12SE 51), but was removed in 1881 and placed in the burial-ground, where it is thought to have been lost between 1923 and 1929, probably when the burial-ground was extended.
It was illustrated by Allen in 1883; the front showed a ringed cross with pellets in the armpits and two triquetra knots above the arms; the only surviving decoration on the back was a double-beaded triquetra knot; both sides bore interlace ornament.
Information from RCAHMS (JRS) 15 December 1992.
J R Allen 1883; J R Allen and J Anderson 1903.
