Wemyss Castle
Cross Slab (Early Medieval)
Site Name Wemyss Castle
Classification Cross Slab (Early Medieval)
Canmore ID 53955
Site Number NT39NW 12
NGR NT 3307 9525
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/53955
- Council Fife
- Parish Wemyss
- Former Region Fife
- Former District Kirkcaldy
- Former County Fife
Wemyss Castle, West Wemyss, Fife, recumbent cross slab
Measurements: H 1.27m, W 0.67m tapering to 0.53m at the base, D 0.02m
Stone type:
Place of discovery: NT 3307 9525
Present location: lost.
Evidence for discovery: found on the foreshore in 1932 and believed to have been covered by colliery waste by 1954. The slab may have come from a burial ground at Wemyss Castle.
Present condition:
Description
This large slab was carved on both broad faces. Towards the top of face A was an equal-armed cross, which may have represented an upright grave-marker, whereas on face C a Latin cross extended the length of the stone, indicating its use, perhaps secondary, as a recumbent grave-cover. The bevelling of the edges of the stone is likely to belong to this latter phase of use.
Date: early medieval.
References: RCAHMS 1933, no 543(a).
Desk-based informationcompiled by A Ritchie 2017
NT39NW 12 3307 9525.
In April 1932, Mr Deas, Kirkcaldy, found a cross-slab overlying a rocky cavity in the shore, about 100 yards below high-water mark, near Wemyss Castle. The slab measures 4'2" in length, tapers from 2'21/2" at top to 1' 9" at bottom, and has an average thickness of 73/4". On one side is carved in relief a Latin cross, extending the whole length of the stone, and on the other a Greek or equal-armed cross which occupies the upper half. The edges of the stone are bevelled.
RCAHMS 1933.
Publication Account (1933)
Cross-slab, West Wemyss.
In April 1932, Mr. Deas, Kirkcaldy, found a cross-slab overlying a rocky cavity in the shore, about 100 yards below high-water mark, near Wemyss Castle. The slab measures 4 feet 2 inches in length, tapers from 2 feet 2 ½ inches at top to 1 foot 9 inches at bottom, and has an average thickness of 7 ¾ inches. On one side is carved in relief a Latin cross, extending the whole length of the stone, and on the other a Greek or equal-armed cross, which occupies the upper half. The edges of the stone are bevelled.
RCAHMS 1933
Field Visit (6 October 1954)
NT 3307 9525. The area where this cross-slab was found, is now covered by waste material from the nearby colliery; the slab was not removed. The finder (Mr G B Deas, 18 Whitehouse Road, Kirkcaldy), has in his possession a photograph of the stone which is an early medieval grave slab.
Visited by OS (J D) 6 October 1954.