Kilmartin Standing Stone
STITCHING ANCIENT STONES
The Appin Stitchers were tasked with bringing to life one of Scotland's most incredible ancient monumental landscapes in capturing the essence of Kilmartin within their panel.
This is their story.
Kilmartin Glen, near Lochgilphead, has a long period of occupation with a complex monumental landscape including cairns, stone circles, carved rock and a church and graveyard. Kilmartin is thought to have been a site of religious significance for thousands of years.
The landscape here is dotted with reminders of past society. The routes they took, the monuments they built, the dead they honoured.
We have brought their stories to life by stitching our own standing stone. Our panel is full of symbols borrowed from ancient art and stories from our stitching group depicting what the area means to us now.
The central image of the panel is of a standing stone with intricately stitched cup and ring marks echoing the rock art at Achnabreck and Cairnbaan, Kilmartin Glen, some of the largest and most complex motifs in Scotland etched into stone around 5000 years ago.
The Kilmartin Standing stone panelImage provided by Kirstie Campbell
The panel also includes personal stories of the area stitched into the journey stones laid carefully on top of the ancient stone. These tell stories of the local area and what is special about living in this beautiful part of the Highlands. Stitcher Midge Gourlay tells us about the process.
The design for our panel included some plain areas which artist Andrew Crummy said we could fill how we liked. We decided as a group to make these areas our journey stones. We also decided that each stitcher would design and then stitch their journey stone but we would all use the subject of Kilmartin as the main theme. Some had a great time visiting the Kilmartin area together to get inspiration for our stones and others found images in books and online of the ancient carvings which we could copy into our stitched pieces.
I think we did really well and it was a journey for us. The journey stones were sewn on linen, cut out and sewn onto the panel with great care. This took quite some time but seeing the panel come together was
Below are some images of the stitchers at work. One stitcher makes lace and made some woollen thread lace from images of lichens that grow on the stones. These were sewn down and can be seen throughout our panel giving it a real personal touch.
A close up of the art captured in the stone.Image provided by Midge Gourlay
Stitching as a group allowed the exchange of techniques and ideas.Image provided by Midge Gourlay
Hard at work stitching journey stones.Image provided by Midge Gourlay
The texture of Kilmartin Glen was echoed in stitcher stories.Image provided by Midge Gourlay
The Appin Stitchers with their finished panel.Image provided by Midge Gourlay
WITH THANKS TO THE APPIN STITCHERS
This panel was stitched by Midge, Elaine, Fiona, Margaret, Michelle, Penny, Sarah, Sheena, Sophia and Vivian who gave their time, skill and energy to completing a fantastic artwork for their area.
If you would like to see the panel up close and admire the detail of their work, please look out for the panel at an exhibition near you soon. To find out more, follow Inverness Castle Experience on Facebook for all the latest updates on the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands and the new visitor experience in Inverness, open 2025.
