| Holywood church and graveyard are believed to be located
on the site of a mediaeval abbey. Documentary evidence of the existence of an Abbey of Holywood
is beyond doubt. Riddell records that the last remnants were removed in 1778 to make way for the present church. That being so, I looked for and expected to find some remnant of this ancient
religious building and its graveyard monuments. The church outer walls, the wall surrounding the graveyard, and the graveyards itself were all carefully examined. |
There was nothing in the stones of any obvious significance that would link this site with an earlier ecclesiastical history. Such a marked absence of any carved stone artifacts leaves a problem for which there can be only two possible answers.
Either the location is wrong, which is very unlikely, or there has been a deliberate attempt at some time in the
past to
remove all such artifacts? There is compelling evidence that the location is correct, so what has happened to all of Holywood's carved stone artifacts? |
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| This large stone, partly buried below the turf, is located fairly close to the south side of church. It bears no date or any textual inscription. It is clearly a grave cover of some description rather than a fallen stone. The length and breadth are similar to that of other table stones. Table stones generally have rounded edges, sometimes with a decorative finish. This monument is plane and the top edge is ragged and broken. There is no inscription but the
broken and pitted top section shows just a hint of decorative carving which may
have been chiseled out. Altogether this stone is a puzzle. |
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| This is indeed a strange find! The top of the stone is not regular in size and shape, suggesting that the inscription or some carving has been remove. Is this evidence of deliberately obliterated of decorative carvings? |
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| Mortality symbols are very common in many old graveyards. Holywood is an exception! This stone, and another stone shown below bearing the winged soul symbol are all that could be found in Holywood. |
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| Carved gravestones can be found in every old graveyard in Dumfries and Galloway. Some graveyards have more than others of course. I had expected to find such stones in a graveyard on an ancient site like Holywood, but apart from the two shown above, none were found. For some reason, which can only be guessed at today, such stones have been removed from this graveyard at some time in the past.
To illustrate my point, some twenty-six carved stones from twenty different locations all over Dumfries and Galloway are given below and on the following page. |
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