An ornate carved stone crest which was once on top of the portico over the main entrance door of Kilmahew house. When the house was demolished in 1995, this and a couple of other similar pieces of carved stone were rescued by a Cardross resident. His grandparents owned the house before it was sold to the Catholic church, and he has many fond memories of staying there as a child.

Apparently, the man doing the demolition was appalled at being asked to knock down such a fine old house – he even phoned his employers to ask if there was some mistake.

The stone is inscribed with the word ‘spero’ – Italian for ‘hope’.

Posted by Michael Gallagher