Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agriculture and fishing. Global pharmaceuticals company GSK has a significant presence in Montrose in the east of the county.
A high cross or standing cross is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval tradition in Ireland and Britain of raising large sculpted stone crosses, usually outdoors. These probably developed from earlier traditions using wood, perhaps with metalwork attachments, and earlier pagan Celtic memorial stones; the Pictish stones of Scotland may also have influenced the form. The earliest surviving examples seem to come from the territory of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, which had been converted to Christianity by Irish missionaries; it remains unclear whether the form first developed in Ireland or Britain.
A Pictish stone is a type of monumental stele, generally carved or incised with symbols or designs. A few have ogham inscriptions. Located in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line and on the Eastern side of the country, these stones are the most visible remaining evidence of the Picts and are thought to date from the 6th to 9th century, a period during which the Picts became Christianized. The earlier stones have no parallels from the rest of the British Isles, but the later forms are variations within a wider Insular tradition of monumental stones such as high crosses. About 350 objects classified as Pictish stones have survived, the earlier examples of which holding by far the greatest number of surviving examples of the mysterious symbols, which have long intrigued scholars.
Celtic art is associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and stylistic similarities with speakers of Celtic languages.
Sculptured stones is a name applied to carved stone monuments from the early Christian period excavated in various parts of the British Isles and Scandinavia. They document the conversion of these areas to Christianity.
Aberlemno is a parish and small village in the Scottish council area of Angus. It is noted for three large carved Pictish stones dating from the 7th and 8th centuries AD ; the stones can be viewed at any time in spring-autumn, but are covered by wooden boxes in the winter to prevent frost damage. Two stones stand by the B9134 Forfar-Brechin road, the Kirkyard Stone stands in the nearby graveyard of the parish church.
The Clach a' Charridh or Shandwick Stone is a Class II Pictish stone located near Shandwick on the Tarbat peninsula in Easter Ross, Scotland. It is a scheduled monument. Since 1988 it has been encased in a glass cover room.
The Hilton of Cadboll Stone is a Class II Pictish stone discovered at Hilton of Cadboll, on the East coast of the Tarbat Peninsula in Easter Ross, Scotland and now in the National Museum of Scotland. It is one of the most magnificent of all Pictish cross-slabs. Until its felling in a storm in 1674, it faced East - West in a natural amphitheatre about 100m from the shore, which runs NE - SW. Like other similar stones, it can be dated to about AD 800.
The Eassie Stone is a Class II Pictish stone of about the mid 8th century AD in the village of Eassie, Angus, Scotland. The stone was found in Eassie burn in the late 18th century and now resides in a purpose-built perspex building in the ruined Eassie church.
The Meigle Sculptured Stone Museum is a permanent exhibition of 27 carved Pictish stones in the centre of the village of Meigle in eastern Scotland. It lies on the A94 road running from Coupar Angus to Forfar. The museum occupies the former parish school, built 1844. The collection of stones implies that an important church was located nearby, or perhaps a monastery. There is an early historical record of the work of Thana, son of Dudabrach, who was at Meigle in the middle of the 9th century during the reign of King Pherath. Thana was likely to have been a monk serving as a scribe in a local monastery that could have been founded in the 8th century. The stones contained in the museum were all found near Meigle, mostly in the neighbouring churchyard or used in the construction of the old church. The present church building dates to about 1870, the previous building having been destroyed in a fire on 28 March 1869. The stones were rescued by William Galloway immediately after the fire. The stones are Christian monuments to the dead of the Pictish warrior aristocracy, who are depicted on the stones bearing their weapons or hunting.
The Dunnichen Stone is a class I Pictish symbol stone that was discovered in 1811 at Dunnichen, Angus. It probably dates to the 7th century AD.
The Monifieth Sculptured Stones are a series of five class II and III standing Pictish stones from the early Medieval period found in or around St Regulus' church in Monifieth, Angus, Scotland. Uncovered during the demolition of a pre-Reformation church and its kirkyard wall in the 19th and 20th centuries, the stones are now housed in the collection of the Museum of Scotland.
The Aberlemno Sculptured Stones are a series of Pictish standing stones originating in and around the village of Aberlemno, Angus, Scotland. Three are located in the village and a fourth, found in 1962, is on display in The McManus in Dundee. They date from the Early Medieval period. A fifth stone standing in the village has signs of carving, but is of unknown authenticity as a Pictish artefact.
The double disc is a Pictish symbol of unknown meaning that is frequently found on Class I and Class II Pictish stones, as well as on Pictish metalwork. The symbol can be found with and without an overlaid Z-rod, and in combinations of both.
The Woodwrae Stone is a Class II Pictish Stone that was found in 1819 when the foundations of the old castle at Woodwrae, Angus, Scotland were cleared. It had been reused as a floor slab in the kitchen of the castle. Following its removal from the castle, it was donated to the collection of Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford House. It is now on display at the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
St Orland's Stone is a Class II Pictish Cross-Slab at Cossans, near Kirriemuir and Forfar, Angus, Scotland
The Hunter's Hill Stone, otherwise known as the Glamis 1 Stone, is a Class II Pictish standing stone at Hunter's Hill to the south east of Glamis village, Angus, Scotland.
The Kirriemuir Sculptured Stones are a series of Class II and III Pictish stones found in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland. Their existence points to Kirriemuir being an important ecclesiastical centre in the late first millennium AD.
In the early Middle Ages, there were distinct material cultures evident in the different federations and kingdoms within what is now Scotland. Pictish art was the only uniquely Scottish medieval style; it can be seen in the extensive survival of carved stones, particularly in the north and east of the country, which hold a variety of recurring images and patterns. It can also be seen in elaborate metal work that largely survives in buried hoards. Irish-Scots art from the kingdom of Dál Riata suggests that it was one of the places, as a crossroads between cultures, where the Insular style developed.
The Govan Stones is an internationally-important museum collection of early-medieval carved stones displayed at Govan Old Parish Church in Glasgow, Scotland.
