Storm avoidance

In order to avoid the impending Storm Dennis, I was over west, in Newton Mearns early, visiting my mum. While over, I blipped this mysterious stone at the Georgian Mearns Kirk church.

This stone leans against the east wall of the church. It was discovered during the building works of 1932. The stone depicts a cross within a circle and beside that, a sword. Glasgow archaeologist Ludovic Mann (1869-1955) thought the stone was a Templar memorial and was probably as old as the 13th century.

The Knights Templars full name was the 'Poor fellow soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon' and they were formed in the aftermath of the 1st crusade of 1096. Originally, the Templars were a military religious order whose purpose was to ensure the safety of the large numbers of European pilgrims who travelled to Jerusalem after its conquest. As the order grew in size and power it became very wealthy and non-combatant sections of the order began to institute many financial techniques which were the foundations of modern banking. They acquired vast amounts of land in Britain and locally were said to own land at Capelrig, Newton, Southfield, Broom, Blackhouse, Shawhill and Burnhouse.

Back in East Lothian at lunchtime for some chilling before visiting Matt and Gemma’s for dinner this evening.

I hope you have a nice day and are not affected by Storm Dennis.