Glengyle Research Group

The Dalmally Carved Stones

A set of carved grave-slabs that once covered the graves of the early MacGregor chiefs is now displayed inside Glenorchy Parish Church at Dalmally, the church historically known as Clachan Dysart. They were carved locally, in the tradition known as the Loch Awe school, and are among the few relics of the clan to survive from before the proscription of the name.

The medieval church that stood on this site until the early 17th century was the burying place of the chiefs of Clan Gregor. An early-16th-century series of obituaries compiled by Sir James MacGregor, Dean of Lismore, records that at least twelve of the chiefs lie here, on the north and south sides of the medieval altar, some in stone coffins.1 Seven of the slabs are reckoned fine examples of the Loch Awe school: several show an armed warrior carrying a spear or a two-handed sword, others elegant fretwork or a running pattern of foliage.2

Guide Sheet

The church's guide sheet for the stones: a photograph of the slabs laid out and numbered one to seven, above explanatory text and a keyed plan.
The church's guide sheet, which sets out the history of the stones and numbers them one to seven on the plan at its foot.

The church also keeps a card for each stone, numbered one to seven, pairing it with an older photograph taken before the slabs were brought indoors. The photographs below follow the stones from right to left around the room, with the card for each stone set beneath the photograph of it.

Stone 7 & Stone 1

Two tall medieval grave-slabs standing upright against the wood panelling inside Glenorchy Parish Church, each carved with a standing armed warrior figure.
Photo by Steven Robertson, May 2025.
Guide card for Stone 7, the slab carved with a figure above a net-like interlace pattern.
Guide card for Stone 1, with a recent and an older photograph of the slab side by side.

Stone 5 & Stone 3

Two of the more heavily weathered slabs standing against the panelling, their carving worn nearly smooth by long exposure.
Photo by Steven Robertson, May 2025.
Guide card for Stone 5, with a recent and an older photograph of the heavily weathered slab side by side.
Guide card for Stone 3, with a recent and an older photograph of the slab side by side.

Stone 2 & Stone 6

A pair of slabs displayed against the panelling: at left, deep-cut bands of interlace below a worn figure; at right, a tall standing warrior.
Photo by Steven Robertson, May 2025.
Guide card for Stone 2, the slab carved with a running pattern of foliage.
Guide card for Stone 6, with a recent and an older photograph of the slab side by side.

Stone 4

A long grave-slab carved with a running pattern of foliage, propped against the panelling beside the church lectern.
Photo by Steven Robertson, May 2025.
Guide card for Stone 4, with a recent and an older photograph of the slab side by side.

When Thomas Pennant passed through on his Highland tour in 1769 the slabs were still lying in the churchyard. He noted “several gravestones of great antiquity, with figures of a warrior, each furnished with a spear or two-handed sword; on some are representation of the chase, on others elegant fretwork, and on one - said to be part of the coffin of a MacGregor - is a fine running pattern of foliage and flowers, and, excepting the figure, all in good taste.”[^panel]

By the early 19th century the slabs had already been lifted from their original places and reused over later graves in the churchyard, where they lay exposed to weather and erosion. On some, the carving is now almost lost. One bears a plain inscription dated 1812, cut into a corner long after the medieval carving.

Around 1800 Sir John MacGregor visited and recorded that the schoolmaster and minister, not knowing who he was, told him the stones “had formed MacGregors Coffin: but had been detached and laid over four graves where they now appear by some unknown person.”[^panel]

After decades in the open, the Clan Gregor Society raised funds to conserve the stones and bring them inside the church. The work was carried out in 2022 and 2023 with support from Historic Environment Scotland, and the slabs are now displayed indoors where the carving can be seen and where they are protected from further weathering.3

Location Map

Glenorchy Parish Church

Footnotes

  1. Guide sheet displayed beside the stones inside Glenorchy Parish Church, Dalmally, read on a visit in May 2025. The sheet transcribes the quotations from Thomas Pennant’s Tour in Scotland (1769) and from Sir John MacGregor’s journal. ↩︎

  2. Historic Environment Scotland, Glenorchy, Church of Dysart (Canmore site 23656). ↩︎

  3. Clan Gregor Society, The Dalmally Stones Project. ↩︎