'It's a significant find' – Ulbster's pagan Pictish stone heads south for conservation work
A recently discovered Pictish symbol stone is now on its way south from Caithness for experts to carry out conservation work at a specialist studio near Edinburgh.
The stone came from the same burial ground in Ulbster from which another was discovered in 1770 that is now on show in Thurso at the North Coast Visitor Centre.
Islay Macleod from Yarrows Heritage said: "It's a significant find and there is already a Pictish stone at the museum in Thurso which was discovered in the 18th century.
"To get two Pictish stones from one location in Caithness is pretty unusual and they seem to be very early. It shows that the area around Ulbster was of great significance in the pre-Christian and Christian eras."
Fiona Begg discovered the Pictish stone in 2022 while uncovering her ancestors' graves at Ulbster. It is thought that the stone may date to the 8th century and was later reused in the historic burial ground and mausoleum at the Mains Of Ulbster as a grave marker. It is on land owned by Lord Thurso and is reputed to be the site of a chapel dedicated to St Martin.
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After restoration it will be offered to Thurso museum (North Coast Visitor Centre) to sit alongside the original Ulbster Stone. To distinguish the two, it will be called by the name of the burial ground: St Martin’s Stone.
The stone was recently uplifted from Thrumster Mains farm and was carefully packed up for the long journey to Ratho, near Edinburgh, where sculptural conservation expert Graciela Ainsworth will conduct restoration work on it at her studio. "She has a stone conservation workshop there and we've managed to raise enough money to have that done," added Islay.
"Lord Thurso is essentially the owner of it and he is keen for it to be displayed beside the other Ulbster stone."
Iain Maclean from Caithness Broch Project witnessed the stone being uplifted and, in his position as a stonemason, was on hand to give some advice during the delicate operation. "It comes from the Pictish pagan era before Christianity had hit Scotland," he said.
"It has the double disc Z-rod symbol but it's quite hard to make out just now. We haven't seen the back side of the stone yet so it would be good to see if there are other symbols on that."
Iain said that metal tools would have been used to create the symbols and would have been "pecked in" by the sculptor rather than at an angle due to the hardness of the stone. "It's been heavily weathered due to it being used as a grave slab with its face up. Water and freezing have degraded it over the years.
"We now have these two stones from the same area with one being Christian and one being pagan. It shows that this area of Ulbster has major significance during the Pictish period and deserves more investigation."
Iain said that the Pictish era covered several hundred years from 350AD to 800AD and is particularly significant in that it covers the spread of Christianity throughout the area.
