David Devereux
Four historic carved stones, possibly of medieval date, have been re-discovered at Saddler’s Croft, St Mary’s Place. Kirkcudbright.
Three of the stones have been carefully removed during renovation works for eventual display on the site.
Exactly what they are and where they originally came from is puzzling at present.
[Galloway News, 17 March 2014]
A building renovation project in Kirkcudbright has resulted in the re-discovery of three old carved stones, possibly of medieval date, and the discovery of a fourth hitherto unknown example. The three stones were built into the external wall of an out-house at Saddlers Croft in St. Mary’s Place, Kirkcudbright. The out-house wall has been partially demolished but the stones were drawn and photographed prior to their careful removal, and will be reset into another wall in the property’s garden.
There is an old photograph of around 1900 in the Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright, which shows the stones ‘in situ’ in the wall, and in a less weathered condition. One stone is rectangular, with a central lozenge and foliage probably originally to either side (one end is missing); it may have formed part of a larger ornamental band. The other two are semi-circular in shape, and have carvings of human heads on them; one has three heads and the other one head and three smaller heads.
What these two stones were is a mystery at present, no other examples have been found elsewhere to help identify them. They could possibly be an early form of gravestone. All three stones are likely to have come from the demolition of an earlier building such as Dundrennan Abbey or Tongland Abbey, or perhaps from a site in Kirkcudbright such as the Franciscan Friary (Greyfriars) which once stood on the Mote Brae or the old St. Andrew’s Church on the site of the present Sheriff Court.
The stones have been clearly built into the out-house wall at eye level to be shown off, almost certainly at the time when the structure was built around 1850. The work has also revealed a fourth carved stone which was built into an internal wall of the outhouse. This is also triangular, but with carvings of a bird, with what maybe a beehive or sheaf above it.
If anyone has any information on these stones, please contact The Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright on 01557 331643 or David Devereux on 01557 339573.