St Serf's Church: Dixons' Memorial Tablet

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 27 Aug 2017

For a view in context, showing this tablet at the eastern end-wall of the ruin, see Image For more detail about the ruin itself, see Image The tablet commemorates members of the Dixon family, of Dumbarton Glassworks. It features the Dixon Crest and the motto "Fortes Fortuna Juvat", and it is dated 1885, though it features additions down to 1916. See http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Dumbarton-Cemetery#st-serfs-church (from one of my articles), which mentions that the Dixons, who acquired the Levengrove Estate early in the nineteenth century, ploughed up the ancient burial ground here, so that only a couple of the older stones survive. They then used the ruin of St Serf's as their own family mausoleum. As well as the tablet shown in the present picture of the eastern gable, note the mortar shapes in the lower halves of the empty spaces to either side; I take these to be traces of other modifications that were made in the nineteenth century in order to make this ruin into a family mausoleum. Long ago, this was the parish church of Cardross, with a cluster of buildings beside it (the clachan of Little Kirkton or Under Kirkton). A plaque is on the north side of the ruin: Image

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