St Orland's Stone

St Orland's Stone, Angus — Photo: Wallace Shackleton / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

The stone is a Class II Pictish cross-slab - worked Old Red Sandstone carved in relief on both faces, bearing Pictish symbols alongside a Christian cross, which places it in John Romilly Allen and…

St Orland’s Stone is a carved stone near Forfar, Angus, Scotland.

What follows is drawn from published sources, with each claim labelled by how firmly it is established.

The name

The cross-slab is known as St Orland's Stone and also as the Cossans (or Cossins) stone after its location at Cossans, in the former parish of Glamis between Kirriemuir and Forfar in Angus.

History

The stone is a Class II Pictish cross-slab - worked Old Red Sandstone carved in relief on both faces, bearing Pictish symbols alongside a Christian cross, which places it in John Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson's Class II category.

At some point the slab was broken and was repaired using iron staples - originally set on the faces of the stone and later moved to its edges to reinforce it.

A quadrangular section between the Pictish symbols and the figural carving on the rear face is missing, appearing to have been cut out or removed from a previously inlaid panel.

People

The Picts

The culture that carved and raised the cross-slab
John Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson

Scholars whose classification system places the stone in Class II

Cultural influences

Pictish symbol tradition - the rear face carries crescent-and-V-rod and double-disc-and-Z-rod symbols.
Early Christian Scotland - the front face bears a ringed Celtic cross with interlaced knotwork and spiral designs, fused with the older Pictish symbol tradition typical of Class II cross-slabs.

Connections

Glamis (former parish)

The stone stands in situ in the former parish of Glamis, near Cossans farm
Kirriemuir and Forfar

Nearest Angus towns; the stone lies between them, south-west of the A926 midpoint

What to look for

The cross face: a ringed Celtic cross decorated with interlaced knotwork and spiral designs, flanked in the lower two quadrants by interlaced fantastic beasts.
The rear face: crescent-and-V-rod and double-disc-and-Z-rod Pictish symbols above a hunting scene with four horsemen and two hounds, with a boat full of passengers and a beast facing or attacking a bull below.
The iron staples on the edges of the slab - evidence of an old repair after the stone was broken - and the missing quadrangular panel on the rear face.
The standing slab itself: worked Old Red Sandstone about 2.4 m tall and 0.7 m wide, carved in relief on both faces.

Plan your visit

Location: 56.6381°N · 2.9785°W
Nearest settlement: Forfar
Access: Reached on a public path
Terrain: Easy going
Start point: St Orland’s Stone · In a field near Cossans farm, 4.5m west of Forfar off the A926. Not signposted.
Best time: Open year-round.
Start point: Meikle Cossans (roadside near Cossans farm) (parking unconfirmed) — No dedicated car park. The stone stands in a field near Cossans farm, 4.5 miles west of Forfar off the A926, and is not signposted. Approach is via minor roads near Meikle Cossans; park considerately on the roadside without blocking farm access, then walk in. Field access may require permission from the landowner.