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MHG9031 - Symbol stone/cup marked stone - St. Clement's, Dingwall

Summary

A Pictish symbol and cup marked stone at St. Clement's, Dingwall.

Type and Period (2)

Protected Status

Full Description

See also:
NH55NW0005 St. Clement's Aisle
NH55NW0019 Church and burial ground
JHooper, 18/10/2002
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Stone still in churchyard with identifying label. Becoming moss covered. Designs on both sides show that stone is not complete. HAW 10/2002
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NH55NW 7 5493 5893.
A cup marked, Class I symbol stone, which had been used as a lintel over a doorway of the church built in 1801, was identified in 1880 and is now erected on a base in the churchyard opposite the entrance gateway. It is a rectangular slab of mica schist, 4'3" high by 1'8" wide by 8" thick, bearing on the front the double disc and Z-rod, and two crescent and V-rods; and on the back three circles and the crecent and V-rod as well as six cup marks.
J R Allen 1903.

As described above, this stone was located at NH 5493 5893 in Dingwall churchyard. Visited by OS (W D J) 17 April 1963

No change. Visited by RCAHMS (JRS) March 1989.

Class I symbol stone bearing ,on the west face,a double-disc and Z-rod with crescents and V-rods at both the centre and the foot of the stone. A.Mack 1997 p.115

Dingwall, Ross and Cromarty, Pictish symbol stone
Measurements: H 1.30m above ground level, W 0.51m, D 0.20m
Stone type: mica schist
Place of discovery: NH 5493 5893
Present location: in the churchyard at Dingwall.
Evidence for discovery: identified by W C Joass in 1880, when it was in re-use as a lintel over a doorway in the 1803 church. It was removed and set in a stone base in the churchyard near the entrance.
Present condition: very weathered on both carved faces, broken at the top (base hidden).
Description:
This was originally a prehistoric cup-marked stone bearing a number of cupmarks on both broad faces, which was later re-used as a symbol stone. It is incised on one broad face with three open circles above a crescent and V-rod and on the other broad face with a double disc and Z-rod above two crescents and V-rods arranged one above the other.
Date: seventh century.
References: ECMS pt 3, 56-7; Fraser 2008, no 120.
Early Medieval Carved Stones Project, Compiled by A Ritchie 2017

This panel was recorded as part of the ScRAP (Scotland’s Rock Art project) by members of NoSAS in October 2017. This stone is recorded in Canmore (12820) as a Pictish Symbol Stone that in 1880 was in use as a lintel over a doorway in St Clement's Parish Church, Dingwall. It has since been moved to the churchyard where it is set upright in a prominent position immediately inside the main gate. The church itself is about 20m to the north. Outside the churchyard about 600m southeast of the stone is the mound with Obelisk (Canmore 106303) in the centre of the car park.

The stone is a flat-sided slab of grey mica schist set upright, 1.2m high x 0.5m across x 0.2m thick. It is aligned approx. north-south and its north edge appears broken. There are 5 cups on the east face (A), evenly spaced, 4 of which are in a diagonal line. The 2 cups on the west face (B) are close to the centre of the carved surface. The stone has been re-used and characteristic Pictish symbol carvings are evident on the east and west faces, obviously incomplete at the north edge. The Pictish carvings are in 4 areas (2 on each face) and do not overlie any of cups. <1>

NGR adjusted based on 2021 vertical aerial photographs. <2>

Sources/Archives (11)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 5493 5893 (6m by 6m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH55NW
Geographical Area	ROSS AND CROMARTY
Civil Parish	DINGWALL

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