Pictish Symbol Stone

in Londubh Burial Ground, Poolewe.

Many visitors are disappointed to find that the design on the Pictish stone has almost completely disappeared due to gradual weathering of the relatively soft Torridonian Sandstone over 1,500 years. 

The Pictish Symbol Stone was carved and erected at the end of the Iron Age and would originally have stood upright in a prominent location. The stone was commissioned to commemorate the death of an important Pict, possibly a member of the royal family.

The diagram below is an interpretation of the original carving before it deteriorated to its present state.

The symbol can still be seen at certain times, when the low late-evening summer sun illuminates it.

Pictish stones almost always have a pair of symbols carved into the stone, providing a particular message. The top part of the stone has broken off and is missing, so we do not have the upper symbol of the pair. Therefore, the message on the Poolewe symbol stone is incomplete.