Carved stones left by the Picts, the early medieval people of eastern Scotland, standing by the roadside and in the village kirkyard
Open to visitorsa Historic Environment Scotland site — many are free to wander; staffed ones charge and keep set hours
Standing remainssubstantial fabric survives to stand in front of
Three carved stones stand in a row beside the road through Aberlemno, with a fourth in the kirkyard a little to the south. The Picts made them, the people who lived across eastern and northern Scotland before Scotland was one kingdom, roughly between the sixth and ninth centuries. Their work is covered in the strange symbols nobody has fully decoded — a crescent, a mirror, a comb, animals — along with, on the later stones, a Christian cross. The tallest roadside stone has a cross carved deep on one face and Pictish beasts on the other. The one people come for is in Aberlemno churchyard: its back shows a battle in full swing, ranks of horsemen and foot soldiers, often thought to record a Pictish victory over the Northumbrians nearby in 685, though that reading is not certain. Historic Environment Scotland looks after them, and because frost and damp would wear the carving, the roadside stones are boxed up over winter and only uncovered from spring to autumn, so time a visit for the warmer months. Brechin and its round tower are a short drive north-east if you want more early Christian carving.
