Horror as ancient church bell taken
Shock at valued Celtic relic’s disappearance
A hand-bell dating from Celtic times has been stolen from Fortingall Church in Highland Perthshire.
On Friday afternoon two church elders discovered the 7th Century relic was not in its historic location.
The four-sided hand-bell, dating from around 800AD, the earliest time of the church in Scotland, had been kept near the front of the church in a metal-fronted alcove.
The door of this had been opened without any obvious damage, using a screwdriver or something similar.
The rural church was not locked during the day, and there was no alarm or CCTV camera.
The missing bell may have belonged to St Adamnan, the biographer of St Columba, who came to the area from Iona as a missionary of the Columban church.
Standing 24cm high, the iconic instrument was made of iron coated with bronze, with no clapper as it was meant to be hit with a metal rod.
While it is of enormous historical and sentimental value, the bell is worthless in terms of metal to be melted down.
Before Fortingall’s modern church was built in 1901, the Saint’s bell had been in the village for more than 1000 years.
Excavations by archaeologists in the churchyard four years ago revealed human remains dated to the late 7th Century.
The Fortingall bell, like the Yew Tree beside the church – the oldest living vegetation in Europe – was a big draw to the village.
Four bells of this type were known in Glenlyon, which was Fortingall Church in Highland Perthshire
a route used by the earliest missionaries coming from Iona on the west coast.
A similar bell is on display at Innerwick church in the glen, one is in Perth museum and one was lost in unknown circumstances many years ago.
Police Scotland officers visited the area on Saturday and took statements.
Local historian and session clerk for Fortingall Church, Dr Gordon Stark, bemoaned the loss of the ancient church treasure.
He said: “We are devastated. What a thing to do. It has been here in this case, undisturbed but much admired since the church was built in 1901.
“It could have been taken yesterday morning [Friday] or on a previous day as the church is left open for visitors during the day and is not staffed.”
Local resident Fran Gillespie expressed dismay at the theft.
She said: “No value can be placed on it – it is quite simply priceless.”
Minister, Rev Anne Brennan, said: “We can only hope that whoever took it will come to realise how much it is valued here and return it.” Dr Gordon Stark, session clerk and local historian, with the empty case, which held the bell
No value can be placed on it - it is quite priceless