User:MauraWen/sandbox Kirkmadrine Stones

The Kirkmadrine Stones are eight

Description

"The eight Kirkmadrine Stones include three of the oldest Christian memorials in Scotland, dating to the 500s AD. The remaining memorials date from the 700s to 1100s AD, and demonstrate the growth of the Scottish church in this time.

They confirm the existence of an early Christian church at Kirkmadrine, and play a pivotal role in our understanding of northern Britain after occupation by Imperial Rome in the early first century AD. " https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/kirkmadrine-stones/

Hist Env Scotland Statement of Significance

"Introduction The Kirkmadrine collection contains 12 early medieval carved stones which are displayed in a porch attached to the west end of the church (Appendix 3). The three earliest of these form the largest collection of Latin-inscribed stones at one location in Scotland. The site is contemporary with the early monastery at Whithorn, and the new guidebook considers them together. All but two of the stones were found within the churchyard, although they have been moved several times before they were gathered into the purpose- built porch as part of the restoration of the church by architect William Galloway in 1890. The porch was refurbished and the display renewed in 2014. The site is free access and no accurate visitor statistics are known; it is estimated that 1,000 people visit annually. Statement of significance The carved stones from Kirkmadrine can be dated to AD 500-1100, a period for which there is precious little evidence in southwest Scotland. For the early part of this period, the evidence from Galloway is largely limited to two sites, Kirkmadrine in the Rhins and Whithorn in the Machars. The three Latin-inscribed pillars, Kirkmadrine 1, 2 and 3 (Figure 1) are of international importance for the evidence they provide of the early church in Britain and Ireland in the 6th century. The key aspects of their significance are highlighted below: The concentration of early Latin-inscribed stones at Kirkmadrine indicate the site’s importance; only twelve such stones are known in Scotland. A lost Latin- inscribed stone from Curghie, 12km SE of Kirkmadrine, is likely to have been related to this collection. Two Latin-inscribed stones are known from the larger monastic site at Whithorn; one of these (the Petrus stone), on geological evidence, came from the Kirkmadrine area and may have been commissioned there. The inscriptions, in their form and content, are exceptionally important to our understanding of a period where evidence is very scarce. These stones provide the earliest recorded personal names in Galloway, which together show a mixture of Britonnic, Irish, Roman and Gaulish name forms. The use of Latin script and the appearance of a rare, early form of Christian symbolism, the Chi-Rho cross, shows continued contact with Latin-speakers beyond Hadrian’s Wall and the Continent, as well as the emerging early church in Ireland. Together, the concentration and survival of the early stones indicate an important and as yet unrecorded early monastery peopled by learned community. The relationship of this site to the better known site at Whithorn 1.2 • • • Historic Environment Scotland – Scottish Charity No. SC045925 Principal Office: Longmore House, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh EH9 1SH 2 2 2.1 • • • • • at this early (6th century) date is clearly significant and more may be revealed by further study. Kirkmadrine’s premier national importance was recognised in the first attempt to preserve key elements of British heritage, in the Ancient Monuments Act of 1882 and displayed since 1890. Aside from the early Latin stones and the cultural contacts they reveal, the later stones date primarily to the period roughly 800-1100, linked to a flourishing of carved stones known as the ‘Whithorn School’. These are regionally significant for the following reasons: This is the largest collection of carved stones of this period in Galloway outside of Whithorn. The styles of carving have close parallels with Iona and Argyll as well as the ‘Whithorn School’, and it may be that Kirkmadrine acted as a bridge between the Gaelic-speaking west and Hiberno-Norse Irish Sea zone. The place-name Kirkmadrine dates to this period, and along with this flourishing of stone carving, relates to a re-foundation of the site as a parish church. The name and the stones place this site within the realm of the Gall- Ghàidheil, or ‘stranger Gaels’, Irish-speaking Norse descendants strongly linked to the Viking kingdom of Dublin and Man which expanded to southwest Scotland in the 10th century. Assessment of values"^[1]

History

See also

References

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