Crieff Burgh Cross
Last updated | 10/09/2010
Early medieval cross-slab known as the Crieff Burgh Cross. In 1999,
supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Crieff Burgh Cross was
removed from the its location on the Crieff High Street, to
preserve it from further decay in the harsh polluting environment
of a busy street.
The cross became the burgh cross of Crieff in the late 18th century
when it appears to have been moved from its original location in
Strowan, 3 miles to the west of Crieff. In origin it is a form of
early medieval, Pictish, sculpture which we describe as a
cross-slab, from the shape of the stone on which the cross is
carved. It was probably made in the 9th century and was probably
associated with an early church site or itself marked a
Christian gathering place associated with an important lordship. At
sometime in the later medieval or post-Reformation periods the
sculpture on one face of the cross-slab was deliberately removed
leaving the present form of a tall cross with a ring-head on one of
the main faces and two decorated side panels. An inscription on the
shaft of the cross has been removed and/or eroded away but for one
or two barely perceptible letters. The defaced side of the
cross-slab was found to preserve a small fragment of decoration
when removed from the ground.
