Barochan Cross

Barochan Cross is an ancient Scottish Celtic Christian cross whose construction has been dated to the early Middle Ages,^[1] between the 8th and the 11th century.^[2][3] It was originally located on the northside of Barochan burn, about 2km north of Houston in Renfrewshire, then moved to a position nearby on top of Corslie Hill in 1790. It remained there for the next 187 years, in an exposed position that caused significant damage to the cross. In 1977, it was taken to Stenhouse Conservation Centre in Edinburgh for preservation. Once repaired it was decided it couldn't return to its exposed position, that resulted in the 1981 decision to move it to Paisley Abbey to protect it from the elements. Barochan Cross is one of three Christian crosses remaining from the ancient Kingdom of Strathclyde. (The others are the Sun Cross in the grounds of Govan Old Parish Church^[4] and the Netherton Cross in Hamilton Old Parish Church.)^[5]

Description[edit]

Barochan Cross is constructed using a pale sandstone.^[2] It is approximately 3.4 metres (11 ft) in height with 0.9 metres (3.0 ft) of the base designed to fit in the ground.^[2]

Interpretation[edit]

Barochan Cross was one of the remaining Celtic crosses from the medieval period that is still standing.^[1] The first known examination of the cross' carvings were made by the antiquarian and genealogist John Stuart who published his drawings in "Sculptured stones of Scotland" in 1856.^[6][7] In 1919, the Scottish archeologist Ludovic McLellan Mann (1869–1955) published a pamphlet "War Memorials and the Barochan Cross, Renfrewshire" on the cross.^[8]

Barochan Cross frontispiece carvings created by the John Stuart in 1856

Barochan Cross backpiece carvings

Moving the cross[edit]

In 1790, the cross was moved by the local laird Malcolm Fleming, whose family had owned the land since the 14th century, from its position at the Mill of Barochan, to a position on top of Corslie Hill,^[9] described as some 11 chain lengths or 726 feet (221 m) from its previous position.^[10][11] The position on the hill where the cross was placed was once the location of the former baronial house of the Fleming family that was reputedly burnt-down by English during the 1296 invasion of Scotland by Edward I of England.^[12] Moving the cross was part of a wider trend amongst landed elites at the time, in an attempt to improve the landscape to prove ownership and increase social status.^[13] By that point in the 18th century, the cross had lost much of symbolic power as a religious fixture or marker of kingly power, but still a place of myth^[13] and had become a tourist attraction, popular with day trippers from Glasgow.^[10]

Revaluation[edit]

When the cross was moved in 1790, it split into several pieces and had to be reassembled.^[14] In 1894, a storm caused the cross to split into three pieces and it was taken to a local farm to be repaired.^[14] An 1894 letter to the Glasgow Herald celebrated the locally cherished object but also illustrated how the care of the cross was in the hands of local people who were essentially amateurs.^[15] With the rise of Antiquarianism in the early 18th century, there was potential for the cross to be collected i.e. stolen but it also led to the collection of histories, that were often developed from local myths.^[15] This led to an reappraisal of historical objects in the heritage landscape like Barochan Cross that by the 19th century had resulted in the formalisation of state controlled preservation organisations that sought to envelop historical monuments like Barochan Cross within their purview.^[15]

In 1882, the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 decreed that certain ancient monuments should be protected.^[16] In 1908, the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of Scotland enacted a survey of all historical monuments on public land in Scotland^[17] and this was further expanded and strengthened by the Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act 1913 that classified monuments on private land that were subject to preservation.^[16] In 1924, Barochan Cross was taken into statutory protection as a national ancient monument under the 1913 act, when the landower Sir Charles Renshaw died and his widow requested protection before the estate was sold.^[16] In 2004, that statutory protection was formally detailed in what was known as a "Statement of Significance"^[18] that is maintained by Historic Environment Scotland. The document defines the evidence of what makes the Barochan Cross unique within the Scottish heritage landscape and the types of current and future actions that are needed to maintain that uniquenes, within an established heritage framework.^[18] Firstly, Barochan Cross is unique as an early medieval Strathclyde cross and secondly it is a key example of the Strathlyde school of sculpture.^[18]

From 1924 onwards, the cross was periodically examined by inspectors to access it's condition.^[19] In 1947, it was reported to the Scottish arm of the Council for British Archaeology that the cross was undergoing significant deterioration and that it should be moved to a parish church to protect it.^[19] In March 1977, the cross was taken to Stenhouse Conservation Centre in Edinburgh for repair, where the senior preservation officer stated it must not return to its exposed hilltop position.^[20] In May 1977, the Parish of Houston and Killelan Kirk were asked if the cross could be sited in the church on Kirk road.^[21] However, the request was rejected as the minister believed the growing numbers of parishioners would endanger the cross and they considered the church floor wasn't strong enough to support it.^[21] A second choice was to move the cross to Castle Semple Collegiate Church in Lochwinnoch, but it would have provided marginal protection as the 16th century church was a ruin with no roof and the location was remote, reducing the potential number of visitors. In 1980, it resulted in the location being rejected.^[21] In 1981 it was finally decided to move it to Paisley Abbey.^[22] Curiously the socket stone remains on Corslie Hill and the reason for it is unknown as there is no official documentation recording why it was left.^[23]

Conservation[edit]

In Stenhouse Conservation Centre in Edinburgh, it was restored over a period of three-years.^[24] Prior to its removal it had undergone significant decay that had been accelerated due to acid_rain^[25] but other factors in the past had also damaged it.^[25] A fence has been recommended in the 1924 report to protect it from grazing cattle who used it as a scratching post but also stated that its exposed position led it to be a convenient perch for birds, whose excrement caused surface damage.^[26] The 1924 report also detailed the crude repairs that had been made when the cross was damaged in the 1894 storm, using flat iron bars to tie the shaft together, steel dowels to secure the headpiece and plain mortar to hold the stone pieces together, that had resulted in damage to the carvings, contaminating the sandstone and making them pulverise to the touch.^[27] A 1947 assessment by inspectors recorded that the cross was covered in Lichen and recommended that it be physically removed by washing, which caused further surface damage, including blunting of detail in the carvings.^[28] A 1973 report recommended the joints should be repointed to stop the ingress of water that was turning the iron to rust but made no mention of removing the iron.^[26]

To conserve it, the head was reattached using a polyester resin and the joints closed and pointed with a mortar mixture made of shellac resin, sand and meths.^[26] The iron dowels were removed and replaced by phosphor bronze dowels that were corrosion resistant.^[27] The damaged carvings on the body were recast with the new mortar and recarved on the edges and then injected with a mix of shellac resin and sand to stablise each repair.^[27]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

• Barochan Cross - Ancient Cross in Scotland in Renfrewshire
• University of St Andrew Collection Rear view of stone cross decorated with interlace ornament set in stone base on top of hill above broad flat glen with fields and woods in 1955