Skulls and dancing skeletons - tour reveals messages on Cathedral gravestones

Have you a fascination for gravestones and what they can tell us about life at the time? 

Have you wondered why many of the gravestones inside St Magnus Cathedral feature skulls, skeletons and other imagery we might consider ‘morbid’ today? 

These carved gravestones dates from the late 1600s, a time when many intricately carved stones were created in the cathedral. But what does it mean?

You can dig deep into these questions this coming Wednesday, 2 April, in the first of our specially-themed Cathedral Curator Tours.  

‘Skulls and Dancing Skeletons – the symbolism of the Cathedral gravestones’ offers a look behind the grim and gruesome to hope and celebration of life. 

Join our Cathedral Curator, Fran Flett Hollinrake, at 2pm for the hour long tour – it costs £15 and there’s no need to book. (The tour starts outside the custodian’s office in the south transept). 

Fran explains how this particular tour came about: “I’ve been looking at and thinking about these carved stones for over twenty years now, and I am fascinated by the symbolic stories they have to tell. 
 
“I gave this tour as part of the Symbols of Mortality exhibition at the Orkney Museum recently, and I know a lot of people couldn’t make it then. This is their chance to catch it again! 

“I’ll be talking about the amazing carvings and exploring their deeper meaning. 

“The amazing relief carvings are amongst not only the best-preserved in Scotland, they are also of the very highest quality – real works of art. 
  
“I’ll be picking out my favourites to show folk, and by the end of the tour everyone will be able to ‘read’ the stones!” 
 
‘Skulls and Dancing Skeletons’ is part of a series of tours taking place one Wednesday a month, all year round, on specialist subjects. Topics of future tours include The Norwegian Connection – from Vikings to Norse to Orcadians; Conservation work in the cathedral, with the Cathedral Mason; Stories in Light and Colour exploring the stained glass windows; The Legacy of War from the Middle Ages to Modern Times; and the Art of St Magnus Cathedral. 

These tours and the role of Cathedral Curator are also supported by the Friends of St Magnus Cathedral.

Find out upcoming tour dates at https://www.orkney.gov.uk/latest-news/cathedral-secrets-revealed-in-new-programme-of-tours/