Balnabual / Balnabual farm nr. Croy and Dalcross Castle

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Image Source: Walker (1887: 423)

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INFORMATION

FontID: 00978BAL
Country Name: Scotland
Location: Highland
Directions to Site: In a wood of the Balnabual farm, south of an old unused road between Croy and Dalcross
Historical Region: Scottish Highlands
Century and Period: , Pre-Reformation
Walker (1887: 422, 425) writes: "In a wood on the farm of Balnabual, near Dalcross Castle, there is a rounded block of reddish-grey granite, with a round basin carved in it, called the Bishop's Stone. It lies 7 yards south of an old, unused road from Croy to Dalcross"; after giving the measurements of the obeject Walker adds: "The late farmer of Knocknaba, an old man, informed Mr Wedderspoon of Croy that there was a tradition that, in pre-Reformation times, the Bishop came at stated periods to this part of the country, and, from this basin, baptized all the children of the neighbourhood in the open air. Since Mr Wedderspoon saw it first, some vandal has chiselled a groove across its face, evidently with the intent to utilise it for his vulgar ends. The site of the stone is on an elevated ridge commanding a magificent view of the Moray Firth and the mountains beyond."

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 57.514143, -4.056333

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, granite (reddish-grey)
Number of Pieces: one
Font Shape: other
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: other
Diameter (inside rim): 15.24 cm
Basin Depth: 6.35 cm
Trapezoidal Basin: 121.92 cm by 111.78 cm broad and 50.8 cm
Notes on Measurements: Walker (1877: 422)

REFERENCES

Walker, J. Russell, "Scottish Baptismal Fonts", 21 or N.S. 9, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1887, pp. 346-448; r["References"]