73* 



Interesting Archceological Discovery at Old Jedward. By 

 Walter Laidlaw, F.S.A. (Scot.), Jedburgh. 



(Plates I. and II.) 



In April 1901, while Mr James Hall, tenant of Earlshaugh, 

 along with two friends, was examining the ruins of the 

 old church which stood by the side of the Jed on a level 

 meadow called Chapelhaugh, they accidentally came upon four 

 sculptured stones. Having been informed of the discovery, 

 I went out and brought the stones to the Abbey, so that 

 they might be preserved. Three of them have the chevron 

 or zig-zag ornament. Parker, in his "Gothic Architecture," 

 p. 75, says — "Norman ornaments are of endless variety. The 

 most common is the chevron or zig-zag, and this is used 

 more and more abundantly as the work gets later. It is 

 found at all periods, even in Roman work of the third century, 

 and probably earlier." There is the zig-zag ornament on 

 both the West and South Norman doors, and on the arches 

 in the choir of Jedburgh Abbey, where it is deep cut and 

 exceedingly well executed, while the sculptured stones found 

 at the Chapel at Old Jedward are shallow, and such as could 

 have been done with an axe. Having submitted a photograph 

 of the stones to an eminent architect, who is a good authority 

 on Norman architecture, I was informed that they belonged 

 to the early Norman period. With such reliable information, 

 and from the many wrought stones found amongst the ruins, 

 there is sufficient proof that the style of the aj-chiteptuire of 

 the church has been earl^ Norman. 



