What is recorded here

Skreen is a ruined church on a hill where a small stone bishop still stands above the south door. Carved in the fourteenth century, he holds a broken crozier and wears layers of church clothing, yet sandstone time has flaked much of his surface away. He may have marked a tomb or decorated a cloister before ending up built into the wall, but he still watches the entrance like a guard who forgot he was dead.

A miniature sculpture of an ecclesiastic that was in the graveyard is now over the S doorway of the church (ME032-047003-) and is dated by Hunt (1974, 1, 213) to the 14th century. It is probably from the pier of a cloister arcade. Hunt describes it as: Built into the outside wall over the south door of the ruined church on the Hill of Skreen is the miniature effigy of a bishop. He seems to have stood within a niche with stepped buttressed sides protruding angularly outwards. He is vested in a chasuble over a dalmatic, tunicle and alb, the upstanding apparel of the amice being visible around his neck. He holds a crozier attired with a sudarium in his right hand and a crook in his left. The shaft of the crozier is broken away above the hand but the out-turned head remains. He is shown bare-headed, though traces of a ring of hair appear above the ears. Being of sandstone, much of the surface has flaked away, but from what remains, it can be seen that the figure appears to be good metropolitan work of the fourteenth century. It may have been either part of a tomb or have had an architectural use. See attached image. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 27 January, 2015

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