Sueno's Stone is a Pictish standing stone on the north-easterly edge of Forres. It stands 20 feet high and is situated in a protective glass encasement on a raised bank on a now isolated section of the former road to Findhorn.

Sueno's Stone is a Class III Pictish stone and is an upright cross slab with typical Pictish interwoven vine symbols on the edge panels. It is carved from Old Red Sandstone which is prevalent in the Laigh o’ Moray but has suffered considerable weathering in places. The western face has a carved Celtic cross with elaborately interlaced decoration and a poorly preserved scene set in a panel below the cross. The east face has four panels that show a large battle scene. The top panel is quite weathered and shows rows of horsemen. The second panel depicts armed foot soldiers and the third panel shows the decapitated vanquished soldiers, the heads piled up, and soldiers, archers and horsemen surrounding what may be a broch. The base panel depicts the victorious army leaving the battle field. In the early 1990s the stone was encased in armoured glass to prevent further erosion and also graffiti.

There are many interpretations of the stone. Local legend says this was the crossroads where Macbeth originally met the three witches. In the legend, they were eventually imprisoned inside the stone—should the stone be broken they would be released. However this tale can date no further back than Shakespeare's play.


Page last modified on November 21, 2007, at 04:41 PM