KILMARONOCK CHURCHYARD, The Old Military Road (A811)
ACCESS : Entrance to the churchyard at any time. Check times of services to enter the building or by arrangement. There is a carpark adjacent to it. Currently closed, but the churchyard can be visited.
Listed B together with the church.
Also see : KILMARONOCK OLD KIRK, OLD MILITARY RD, KILMARONOCK
There are several graves of interest. One of note is of George De Cardonnel Elmsall Findlay. He was a World War I Victoria Cross recipient which he received the award from British King George V on November 27, 1919 at Buckingham Palace for his actions as an acting major in the 409th (Lowland) Field Company, Corps of Royal Engineers, British Army on November 4, 1918 during the Second Battle of Sambre, France, in the closing days of World War I. [Find a Grave].
CRUSADER'S STONE
A stone that is somewhat mystical and lost for ages, is now the pride of the church. Its name by which it is known today is supposition and based on the combination of cross and sword. Even if there was no direct connection to a crusade the senitment is clear. The Kilmaronock Old Kirk website tells us : This is oldest known stone in the church yard and is Pre-Reformation. It is a late medieval grave slab, probably 14th or 15th century, known locally as the Crusader’s Stone.
This interpretation of the carvings on it is taken from the Old Kirk website. You can clearly make out the sword and cross, but the other forms are mysterious.
Originally it may have been placed within the church. In the pre-Reformation period high status individuals were buried within the church. Post-Reformation this was forbidden. The slab was found in 1909 abandoned and broken in the SW corner of the graveyard while scrub was being cleared. This is the upper part we have here. It sat at the church door for many years before being moved indoors about 15 years ago (roughly 2007) to protect it from the weather.
The Scottish Reformation of 1560 was the process by which Scotland broke with the papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national kirk which was strongly Presbyterian in its outlook. [Kilmoronack Old Kirk]
These symbols around the scord and cross have not yet been interpreted.
BRITISH LISTED BUILDINGS with map : https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/200339568-churchyard-with-cross-slab-kilmaronock-church-kilmaronock
CANMORE : https://canmore.org.uk/site/43415/kilmaronock-church
FIND A GRAVE website : https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8130946/george-de_cardonnel_elmsall-findlay This covers Elmsall- Findlay in some detail.
KILMARONOCK OLD CHURCH TRUST FaceBook : https://www.facebook.com/kilmaronock/
KILMARONOCK website : https://gartocharn.org/churches
KILMARONOCK OLD KIRK website : https://www.kilmaronockoldkirk.org.uk/crusaders-stone
NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON CARVED STONES IN SCOTLAND : http://www.carvedstones.scot/
SCOTLAND'S CHURCHES TRUST website : https://scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk/church/the-church-of-kilmaronock/
