Aberlemno Sculptured Stones

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

Historic Scotland names no parking. A road sign directs visitors to the small car park beside Aberlemno Village Hall, a few metres from the three roadside stones, and reviewers describe it as free; no official charge or free statement exists, so the status is recorded as unknown. The churchyard stone is about 300 m south at Aberlemno parish church.

Driving pin: the village hall car park, about 30 m west of Historic Scotland's own pin on the roadside verge. Aberlemno is on the B9134, 6 miles north-east of Forfar; a bus stop serves the village. Historic Scotland gives journey planners only.

About

In and around the small Angus village of Aberlemno, six miles north-east of Forfar, stand four carved Pictish stones of about AD 500 to 800, among the finest Pictish carving to survive. The northern roadside stone was probably a prehistoric standing stone reused by the Picts, carved with a serpent, a double disc and z-rod, and a mirror and comb. In the churchyard is a cross-slab with a cross of interlace on a background of interlaced animals; the side facing the church shows a battle, perhaps Nechtansmere in AD 685, where King Ecgfrith of Northumbria was killed. The roadside cross-slab, with angels, a hunting scene and King David fighting a lion, fell in a storm in March 2025 and is being conserved in Edinburgh. Every year the stones are covered by wooden boxes from the end of September to the beginning of April to protect them from frost, so visit from April to September to see the carvings. Park at the village hall beside the roadside stones.

Check today’s timesSee all times

Aberlemno Sculptured StonesOpen at all times; the stones are covered by winter boxes until 1 April 2027 and the roadside cross-slab is away for conservation

Opening times may change at short notice.

Historic Scotland: 'The Aberlemno Sculptured Stones are free to visit.' No hours are published. The stones are covered with wooden boxes against frost from the last working day of September until the first working day of April, this winter from 30 September 2026 to 1 April 2027, with interpretation panels on the boxes; visit from April to September to see the carvings.

The roadside cross-slab (Aberlemno III) fell with its box in strong winds in March 2025 and is undergoing conservation in Edinburgh, with no return date; the two other roadside stones and the churchyard cross-slab remain. The Pictish Room heritage museum in the village hall opens once a month in summer and is not a Historic Scotland site. No toilets or other facilities at the stones.

Photo: The carved cross face of the Aberlemno churchyard cross-slab, with interlace and spiral animal ornament, in its railed bed beside the parish church. Sandy Gerrard, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Class_II_Pictish_symbol_stone_in_Aberlemno_churchyard_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6706788.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.