Breadalbane Heritage Society

A talk presented on Zoom by John Borland to the Breadalbane Heritage Society on Friday, 21st January, 2022.

In this talk, John gave an overview of the early medieval sculpture of Highland Perthshire, following its distribution from west to east along the glens and straths, highlighting what is rare and unusual.  He examined the distribution of the sculpture to see what that tells us about its cultural origins and thus assess just how “Pictish” this part of Perthshire was.

John Borland worked as an archaeological surveyor for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Historic Scotland (RCAHMS) and then Historic Environment Scotland (HES) for 36 years, retiring as Measured Survey Manager in May 2020.  In that time, John had the opportunity to survey almost every type of archaeological and architectural monument, from Neolithic chambered cairns to WWII coastal batteries and everything in between, including castles, churches, croft houses and country houses.  However, the main focus of his work latterly was recording Scotland’s Pictish and other Early Medieval sculpture.  

John has been a member of the Pictish Arts Society for more than 20 years and is the current PAS President.

You can view John’s talk here:

This talk was presented on Zoom, but unfortunately due to the vagaries of local internet connections, John’s speech was disrupted in a number of occasions. However, the general content of his talk is still discernible during these instances.