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Monument of the Month

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August 2008

Site Name: Luss, St Kessog's Church and Churchyard / Saint Kessog's / St Mackessog's / Church of Scotland / Loch Lomond / Parish Church
Site Type: Hogback Stone; Chapel; Church; Carved Stones
SMR Record: WoSAS Pin 7091

Site Description: The church of Luss is first mentioned in the middle of the 13th century. The first post-Reformation church was built on the same site and the church of 1771 now stands a few feet from the remains of 'the old church'.
W Fraser 1869

The present church of Luss was built in 1875 and succeeds a church opened for worship in 1771 which was erected on the site of a pre-Reformation chapel. A few yards from the east end of the church are the remains of a wall of rough stone masonry of of unknown date.
In the churchyard is a hog-backed stone and sepulchral monuments, some sculptured and of mediaeval and early post-Reformation date.
St Kessog is said to have been buried at Luss in the early part of the sixth century.
A D Lacaille 1925

The church is dedicated to St Kessog.
R Chalmers 1890

To the east of Luss church are two fragments of rubble masonry, each about 3.0 metres long by 1.5 metres high and 0.8. metres thick. Each fragment incorporates a grave slab, and one dated 1778, the other 1789, thus the walling may not be older than these dates. The sepulchral monuments are still in the churchyard.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 18 January 1963

The hogback stone lies in the churchyard to the E of the church. It lies on an E to W axis. It is in grey sandstone of type B1, 11th century. 1778mm long by 381mm and 330mm at the ends. Width at centre: 440mm. Height at ends: 254mm and 178mm. Height at crown: 432mm. The top is curved but the ridge is worn away. There are four rows of semicircular tegulae on each side, each 63mm wide and 57mm deep. They lie on a gently curving roof pitch.
The S side is vertical for 305mm below the eaves. At the extreme left it is worn but there is an arcade of interesting round headed arches with plain capitals. Five pillars remain visible, with no bases. Pellets are inserted beneath the intersections and above each capital. The arcade is followed by three circular designs: first a raised circle 165mm in diamter containing four petals, secondly an incised circle 127mm in diameter with a raised pellet in the centre contained by four arcs, and thirdly an incised circle 140mm in diameter divided by three arcs.
The N side is vertical for 267mm and contains a similar arcade of intersecting arches but without the pellets. At least ten pillars are visible. The ends are truncated and incline inwards from the eaves towards the base.
J T Lang 1975

NS 361 928 The first reference to a church at Luss is in the mid 14th century, but in the churchyard are two cross-slabs, probably of 7th to 9th century date, and a hogback of 11th century date, which suggest that there was a church on the site considerably before this. There are the very slight remains of an earlier building immediately to the E of the existing church, which was not built until 1875.
RCAHMS 1978, visited August 1977
Orig Paroch Scot 1850; A D Lacaille 1925; J T Lang 1975

The medieval parish church of Luss, like its successor of 1771 and the present building of 1875, stood on the N bank of the Luss Water and 130m from the W shore of Loch Lomond. The church was dedicated to St Kessog, who is associated with the neighbouring island of Inchtavannach, and his bell was supposedly preserved on the island until the 19th century (a). The medieval effigy of an abbot or bishop, now much re-tooled, was found in the late 18th century in a cairn at Bandry (NS 3584 9003), the reputed site of Kessog's martyrdom, and is displayed in the church (b). Two cross-marked stones and a hogback grave-cover are in the churchyard, as well as a late medieval cross and at least five coped grave-covers (c).
(1) Rectangular slab of slate, broken at the top and foot and measuring 1.16m in height by 0.36m and 0.18m in thickness. One face has been roughly dressed with a pick and bears a cross incised with a U-section groove, 0.39m high and 0.34m across the side-arms. These are set a little above mid-height and extend to the edges of the slab, while the shaft, which is slightly curved, has rounded terminals.
(A D Lacaille 1925, 144 and fig.1 on p.145).
(2) Slab of red sandstone, 0.75m in height by 0.47m and 85mm in thickness. It is broken at the top right and much worn and flaked, but a cross is firmly incised on one face with a broad U-section groove. It measures 0.29m in height by 0.33m across the side-arms, which are set at mid-height. The terminals are slightly expanded and rounded, and in the four cantons there are hollows about 30mm in diameter.
(A D Lacaille 1925, 144 and fig.2 on p.145).
(3) Hogback grave-cover of grey sandstone with curved sides and ridge, lichen-stained and cracked and flaked in places. It is 1.78m long and at the centre is 0.43m high by 0.4m wide, tapering at the W end to 0.18m by 0.33m and at the E to 0.25m by 0.38m. The ridge appears to have been a plain raised band about 60mm wide but is now almost obliterated. On each slope of the roof, and following the curve of the ridge, there are four rows of round-ended tegulations. The sides of the stone are vertical and have been re-cut in Romanesque style, the N side bearing in false relief an arcade of nine bays. This has intersecting double-beaded round arches springing from plain pillars with block capitals but no bases. The S side bears at the centre a four-bay arcade with simple arch-heads enclosing pellets, and to the right there are three roundels, enclosing respectively a quatrefoil in false relief, a cross with curved arms and central pellet, and a triskele with concave sides. The ends taper slightly downwards from eaves-level (d).
Lang assigned this monument, on the basis of the curvature of the ridge and cross-section, to the earliest group of Scottish plain tegulated hogbacks, and proposed an 11th-century date. The arcades and roundels on the sides are clearly alterations of the following century, and the entire surfaces of both sides were re-dressed at that period. The continuing popularity of tegulated ornament at Luss in the 12th and 13th centuries is seen in several of the coped monuments recorded in the churchyard.
I Fisher 2001, 84-5.

NS 3610 9285 A watching brief was kept during the excavation of new drains and paths, solum of the church and replacement grave foundations. A medieval West Highland coped stone of fine-grained sandstone was noted, measuring 1.72m long and 0.21m high (max.) and a maximum of 0.42m wide, and tapering towards the foot end. It is broken in two pieces about two-thirds of the way down its length. Of the three coping panels, the two side panels have foliate design and the top panel bears only a single initial 'C' at the head end in crisp Latin script. No other carvings are present. It was discovered in the foundations of a late 19th-century grave during repair works, and the medieval stone is not in its original position. It has been raised to the ground surface in the same position in the cemetery to be on public display.
Immediately adjacent to the coped stone was a slate slab in situ. The 1.8m slab is plain and unfinished from the nearby Camstraddan quarry, with the exception of a small 8cm cross scratched on it towards the southern side of the foot end. The cross has been embellished around its branches, perhaps to create a Celtic cross, but it is difficult to decipher precisely. The slab has been left in situ and it appears undisturbed, confirming that the top 0.2m of the cemetery soil was substantially disturbed during the late 19th century when the standing church was built and the graveyard was 'tidied'.
During the excavations of the 19th-century grave foundations a fragment of slate that appears to bear a fragment of a cross was recovered. It is possible this slate is a fragment of a simple medieval grave marker. A small assemblage of medieval and post-medieval pottery was recovered from the graveyard soil, including Scottish medieval redwares, Scottish White Gritty and post-medieval reduced ware. The majority of the sherds were found in the area immediately N of the W porch. Three overgrown gravestones last recorded in 1926 were rediscovered, and it was confirmed that the 12th-century coped stone described and illustrated by Lacaille (PSAS 1927-28, 93-5) was destroyed beyond repair in the 1970s.
Excavations of the drains and in the interior of the church revealed glimpses of the 17th-century church foundations, and the layout of the foundations of the c 13th-century chapel to the E of the standing building was confirmed. In the lane leading down to Loch Lomond on the NE side of the churchyard a substantial infill deposit of 18th- to 19th-century midden on rubble was encountered to a depth of 2m but was not bottomed. It may simply represent building up of the lane which is only 30m from the loch, but may represent infill of an earlier ditch or vallum.
Several architectural fragments were recovered from the interior of the church, the graveyard and associated with the 13th-century chapel; these are stored on site. Two broken 18th-century gravestone fragments were recovered from 19th-century gravestone foundations, one of which is a fine trade stone of a shipwright; this is now on display in the cemetery.
The early cross slabs, the font, the 14th-century effigy and the Celtic head have been cleaned and conserved and remain on site.
Report to be deposited in WoSAS SMR and the NMRS.
Sponsors: HS, HLF, Congregational Board of Luss Church, Church of Scotland.
L Dunbar 2002

Sources:

• Allen, J R, The early christian monuments of the Glasgow district, Trans Glasgow Archaeol Soc, Vol 4, 1902
• Baker, F, St MacKessog's Parish Church, Luss: Draft Report (Text Only) on the Archaeological Watching Brief on the Phase One Drainage Works, FIRAT Archaeological Services, 2001
• Baker, F, St MacKessog's Luss Parish Church: Report on the Archaeological Work carried out during the 2002-2003 restoration works to the church and cemetery, FIRAT Archaeological Services, 2004
• Brydall, R, 'Notices of incised and sculptured stones at (1) Luss; (2) Inch Cailleach, Loch Lomond; and (3) at Glendaruel in Argyleshire',Trans Glasgow Archaeol Soc,new series,5,1908
• Chalmers, G, Caledonia: or a historical and topographical account of North Britain, 1887.
• Cowan, I B, The parishes of medieval Scotland, Scot Rec Soc, Vol 93, 1967
• Fisher, I, Early Medieval sculpture in the West Highlands and Islands, 2001
• Fraser, Sir W, The chiefs of Colquhoun and their country, 1869
• Lacaille, A D, Some ancient crosses in Dumbartonshire and adjoining counties', PSAS, Vol 59, 1924-5
• Lacaille, A D, The Capelrig Cross, Mearns, Renfrewshire; St Blane's Chapel, Lochearnhead, Perthshire; and a sculptured slab at Kilmaronock, Dumbartonshire, PSAS, Vol 61, 1926-7
• Lacaille, A D, Ecclesiastical remains in the neighbourhood of Luss, with notes on some unrecorded crosses and hog-backed stones, PSAS, Vol 62, 1927-8
• Lacaille, A D, Loch Lomondside fonts and effigy, PSAS, Vol 68, 1933-4
• Lang, J T, Hogback monuments in Scotland, PSAS, Vol 105, 1972-4, pp.206-35.
• Muir, T S, Characteristics of old church architecture etc. in the mainland and western islands of Scotland, 1861
• NSA, 1845, The new statistical account of Scotland by the ministers of the respective parishes under the superintendence of a committee of the society for the benefit of the sons and daughters of the clergy
• OPS, 1851, Origines parochiales Scotiae: the antiquities ecclesiastical and territorial of the parishes of Scotland. Vol 1.
• OSA, 1791, The statistical account of Scotland, drawn up from the communications of the ministers of the different parishes, in Sir John Sinclair (ed.)
• RCAHMS, 1978, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Dumbarton District, Clydebank District, Bearsden and Milngavie District, Strathclyde Region
• Reg Magni Sig Reg Scot, 1984, Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum. The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, AD 1546-1580. Vol 4, in Thomson, J M (ed.), Edinburgh, London, Melbourne.
• Ritchie, A (ed.), Govan and its early medieval sculpture, 1994
• Scott, H et al (eds.), Fasti ecclesiae Scoticanae: the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation, 1915.
• Walker, J R, Notes on a peculiar class of recumbent monuments,PSAS,19,1884-5
• Watson, W J, 1926, The history of the Celtic place-names of Scotland: being the Rhind lectures on archaeology (expanded) delivered in 1916. Edinburgh.