The Ulbster Stone is a Class II cross slab which features a crescent and V-rod and a Pictish beast amongst other symbols.

The stone is thought to have originally stood in the burial ground of St Martin’s Chapel at Ulbster. At some point it fell and became buried but in 1770 it was dug up and re-erected in a corner of the kirkyard. Later it was used as a grave slab which led to the front side becoming more worn than the reverse.

In the 19th century the stone was moved to the grounds of Thurso Castle where it was set upright on an artificial mound (at ND 1255 6879) with the front pointing towards the sea which led to a further deterioration of the carvings.

Some time between 1910 and 1956 the stone was moved once again, and eventually ended up in the entrance doorway of Thurso Museum (later renamed Caithness Horizons and subsequently the North Coast Visitor Centre). It now stands within the North Coast Visitor Centre.

Carved from Old Red Sandstone, probably in the 9th century, it measures around 1.52m by around 0.91m wide and is approximately 0.20m in thickness. Both the front and reverse are carved with a cross and numerous symbols, with a mixture of relief carvings and incised lines.

The front is carved with an equal-armed cross surmounting a narrow shaft on a rectangular base. The cross, shaft and base are all filled with interlaced knotwork. Each terminal of the arms of the cross is filled with four interlinked triquetra knots. Above the arms of the cross are three carved animals, two cattle and a possible bear-like creature with paws.

Below the arms of the cross are another pair of bear-like animals on either side of the shaft. Below the left-hand animal are a pair of men crouched either side of a cauldron and below them a snake. Below the right-hand animal is what might represent a flower, below that a horse and below that what has been interpreted as a foal with its legs folded under itself.

The Gothic text “The Ulbster Stone” is carved across the top terminal of the cross, which is thought to have been added in the 19th century.

The reverse is carved with a simpler equal-armed cross, with all five constituent panels filled with four interlinked triquetra knots. Arranged around the cross are eight symbols. To the top left is a Pictish beast over a salmon.

At the top right is a crescent and V-rod below which is a lion. Bottom left there is a geometric step symbol above an “S-dragon” and bottom right is a double disc above a double crescent.