<< Our Photo Pages >> The Ruthwell Cross - Ancient Cross in Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway
Submitted by TimPrevett on Sunday, 29 July 2007 Page Views: 11192
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: The Ruthwell CrossCountry: Scotland County: Dumfries and Galloway Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Town: Dumfries / Annan Nearest Village: Ruthwell
Map Ref: NY1005968219
Latitude: 55.000387N Longitude: 3.407573W
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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I have visited· I would like to visit
Anne T visited on 12th Oct 2014 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5 The Ruthwell Cross, Ruthwell: I’ve visited the Savings Bank Museum in Ruthwell to have meetings with the curator on more than one occasion and thought I had visited the Ruthwell Cross before (both my husband and I have vivid memories of taking the children to see an ancient sandstone cross in a churchyard when we first moved to Dumfries and Galloway in 1992, and while we both thought it was this one, it’s not – a mystery!).
There is a large visitors’ car park to the west end of the church. A key is available from the manse cottage, in a little stand outside with a blue label saying ‘church key’ and a small box with a lift up lid.
I was surprised by the sheer size of the cross, which absolutely dominates the church. Andrew clambered down into the pit and took some photographs looking up the whole of the cross, which was quite difficult to photograph given the sky lights overhead – we needed a dull day to avoid the light spilling in.
This is the second cross with runes on we’ve seen in three days (the other at Bewcastle), although the Ruthwell guide goes to great lengths to point out they are a true preaching cross, not a memorial!
Some of the elements at the top of the cross don’t quite seem to fit – they are much darker sandstone than the rest, but have probably not been weathered so much.
I was staggered by the price of a guide book (£5). There was a constant stream of visitors, coming in ones and twos – one family leaving as we arrived and another we handed the key to as we left.
coin have visited here
The magnificent and hugely important 7th Century Ruthwell Cross, some 18 feet tall. A very good page on the cross can be found on Rampant Scotland's website. Also a painted plaster-cast replica is situated in Manchester Museum.
More information can also be found at Canmore ID 66586 which says this is: "an Anglian high cross with runic inscriptions, one of the major monuments of Dark Age Europe, which dates probably from the end of the 7th century." The archaeology notes on Canmore also state that "traditionally the original site of the cross was at Priestside on the Solway shore .... The broken fragments remained in the church until some time after 1772 when they were again removed to the churchyard. In 1802 the cross was erected in the manse garden where, restored in 1823, it remained till final removal to its present position in the church in 1887."
The Journal of Antiquities also includes an entry for The Ruthwell Cross, Dumfries And Galloway, Scotland, which gives directions for finding this cross, together with a description, photographs and a list of reference sources for more information.
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Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
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