Discoveries
So Far
Recording the Graveyard
Kirkyard Arial
Tarbat Old Church sits in its own handsome walled kirkyard which contains memorials dating from the seventeenth to the late twentieth centuries. Excavations in the church have shown that the history of burial begins around the mid sixth century but the inhabitants of Portmahomack, in more recent years, did not choose to remember themselves in stone until the seventeenth century.
Click to view larger image of kirkyard arial.
Large Memorials
During the 2002 fieldwork season over 900 individual markers were individually recorded; many stones included numerous memorials to members of one family. The graveyard recording was undertaken in partnership with the Carved Stones Project hosted by the Council for Scottish Archaeology and their Carved Stone Adviser, Dr Susan Buckham. The recording aimed, not only to record who was buried at Portmahomack and when, but also how the stone used to carve the memorial was faring. Information about names, dates, occupations, and memorial style was recorded alongside level of erosion, moss and lichen growth and other indicators of decay. This information will indicate how to care for the kirkyard and its memorials in the future. The recorded information about individuals and families is intended for a digital database to help people researching families and other aspects of social history.
The memorials remember thousands of inhabitants who belong to Portmahomack in some way. Family names are repeated over and over like Macleod, Mackay, Urquhart, Ross, Mackenzie, Munro and MacGregor. Professions noted give some clue as to the lifestyle enjoyed by those buried in Portmahomack, tacksmen, innkeepers, blacksmiths, bank managers, bank tellers, farmers and those who died at sea are also remembered. Elaborate wall monuments dedicated to prominent members of past communities sit alongside more diminutive single stone markers with simple initials.
A large memorial.
For more information about graveyard recording contact:
Dr Susan Buckham
Carved Stones Adviser
Council for Scottish Archaeology
c/o National Museums of Scotland
Chambers Street
Edinburgh, EH1 1JFTelephone: 0131 247 4119
Email: s.buckham@nms.ac.uk
Last updated 10 October, 2003.
Contact the Tarbat Discovery Programme
© 2003-2006 University of York
