This celebration has had to be cancelled for this Sunday, 14/9/25, due to the combination of an adverse weather forecast and accessing the remote hillside location.
We do apologise for this short notice but hope to reschedule the event in the not too distant future.
Service now CANCELLED for 14/9/25, but we hope to reschedule this Celebration of the Covenanters’ Monument restoration at a later date, to be advised.
On Skeoch Hill above Maxwelltown Farm, Irongray DG2 9TU there is a historic listed monument, erected in 1872, to commemorate a major conventicle of the Covenanters held there in 1678. The stones on which the communion was laid out are still there.
Last year it was noticed that age and weather had damaged the monument such that the top, in the form of a communion cup, had broken off and fallen to the ground.
The Irongray Community Trust has taken on the job of managing the repair and restoration of the monument, arranging listed building consent, funding, the services of a monumental stone mason and transport for men, materials, scaffolding and equipment to the very remote site high on the moor.
Restoration work was carried out in the week commencing Monday 8 September. The service planned to celebrate the restoration and to re-dedicate the monument at the monument on Sunday (14 Sept) had to be cancelled at short notice, due to an adverse weather forecast. It is hoped to reschedule at a later date, to be advised.
All will be welcome to attend the service once a new date (with more favourable weather) is determined. Access will involve a 40 minute walk up the hill from either Maxwelltown Farm, Irongray or from Upper Skeoch, Glenkiln. The route for the walk involves rough moorland and is quite steep in places. Those attending are welcome to bring picnics to help enjoy the magnificent views from this historic site on what is hoped to be a historic occasion.
The Irongray Community Trust would like to record grateful thanks to The Scottish Covenanter Memorials Association, The Headley Trust and Annandale and Nithsdale Community Benefit Company for their financial and other support for the project and to Bruce Hyslop, the owner of Maxwelltown Farm.