Silent Sunday…… Off to a Very Different Church

The Nether Largie Standing Stones,  Kilmartin, Argyll

We are not visiting a conventional Church this Sunday but none the less a place where over 5000 years ago, in the Neolithic era, people gathered for communal ceremonies.  Burial and Tribal occasions plus celebrations and worship related to the seasons.

The Standing Stones are covered with what are known as “Cup and Ring”  marks. Many theories relate to there interpretation but none seem definitive.

Nether Largie is just one of over 350 ancient sites in an area no bigger than 6 miles around Kilmartin…. and part of Kilmartin Glen.

Standing Stones, Burial Cairns and Kist’s can be found all across this Argyll Peninsula that pokes out into the Irish Sea.

Temple Wood Burial Cairn and Standing Stones

Kilmartin Glen and Nether Largie

The Religious significance of Kilmartin has continued through the millennia from those early Neolithic times. Over the centuries the changing generations have sought to discover Religious solus in Kilmartin and the surrounding Glens.

Today many visitors seek out Kilmartin Church and the nearby Visitors Centre.  The Church itself is also  host to a number of carved stones from a different age. Intricately carved Crosses and  elaborate Memorial Stones dating  from before 1300AD through to the 1600’s AD.  Many are in the open within the Church grounds whilst the most precious have been taken into shelter.

 Kilmartin Church is still the Parish Church and retaining the link through religious time back to the Neolithic worshipers.

Even in todays busy world Kilmartin Glen is a place of tranquillity and peace.

14th April

(C) David Oakes 2019