29-09-2010

A 16th century archway at Scone Palace, which marked the approach to an Augustinian Abbey, was demolished by a careless van driver who managed to reverse his white van straight through the stonework, leaving nothing but a pile of rubble and two support towers.

William Murray, the master of Stormont and son of the 8th Earl of Mansfield, is said to be devastated, but hopeful that with the help of modern technology the iconic stonework can be saved. The immediate response is expected to be a sympathetic clear up operation, before conducting a proper survey to see how it could be gradually pieced back together.

Mr Murray explained: “Things have already swung into motion. Historic Scotland and our own architects and engineers will have a good look at it.”

“At first we didn’t quite understand the extent of the damage, and were horrified when we saw the scene.”

“There was a van sitting there about 10 metres through the gate covered in dust. I walked around the side. It was very odd, suddenly seeing two towers with no arch. It was both shocking and disappointing.”

Visitors entering Scone Palace, the ancient crowning site of Scottish kings and original home of the Stone of Destiny, would have passed under the archway for hundreds of years.

To make the whole incident worse the route under the archway is supposed to be out of bounds, obviously in anticipation of the occurrence of such an accident.

The hapless van driver was working for a contractor collecting a marquee from the Scone Palace grounds, which had been used for the weekend’s Perth Hunt Ball.

Thankfully no-one was injured in the incident. The only victims were two 16th century crests and the back end of a large white van.

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