Old Stone in the Kirkyard
Gordon Cook sent me this photo in January, which was taken in the High Blantyre kirkyard, within the stone perimeter wall, on the inside right of the gates. The picture was shared to see if anybody knew what the stone could be? (If anybody definitively knows, please get in contact)
Using some computer trickery, Gordon extrapolated what the stone would look like itself and from different angles, but no light was shed on its use.
Stone Lintol pictured from different angles
I have to say, when Gordon sent it to me, I didn’t know what it was (and if I’m honest, still don’t), so in January, I had filed away the email and photo, without posting. When the middle (or second) Church was demolished within the krirkyard, part of the deal was that the Heritors got the material of that Church to defray some of their expenses, so it is little wonder there is hardly a trace of it today, although some steeple stones are mounted in the kirkyard on a cairn. Could this stone be part of that church? Could this stone have survived? It seemed to have been purposely worked, perhaps to form part of a window or door casement.
Stone on Milheugh mill looks very similar
Recently, as I was looking through some 1799 sketches of Blantyre’s Mills, I noticed a detail on the gable lintel, stonework, that had some similarity to the picture Gordon sent. It looked like it was entirely flat on top, with an indent, and corbeled below.
Now, Im NOT suggesting this is the actual stone from Milheugh mill, but i would go as far as saying since the Mill design is late 1700s and the old Kirkyard church was built in the same time period (1793?), there is a distinct possibility that the stone was a common construction feature then. I can’t really come to any conclusion about it. Maybe its just me and i’m seeing things?