Sally Foster, a cultural heritage scholar at the University of Stirling, has traced previously undocumented fragments of the Stone of Destiny created after its fracture during the 1950 Westminster Abbey theft. Repair work by Robert Gray produced 34 chips that he distributed to friends, politicians and visitors; Foster has located many of these across continents. The main stone was returned to Scotland in 1996 and is now housed at Perth Museum (2024), enabling new scientific and curatorial study. Foster also offers a new reading of the modern "xxxv" inscription as Gray’s personal mark referencing the dispersed fragments.
Researcher Traces Long-Lost Fragments of the Stone of Destiny — New History Emerges
Sally Foster, a cultural heritage scholar at the University of Stirling, has traced previously undocumented fragments of the Stone of Destiny created after its fracture during the 1950 Westminster Abbey theft. Repair work by Robert Gray produced 34 chips that he distributed to friends, politicians and visitors; Foster has located many of these across continents. The main stone was returned to Scotland in 1996 and is now housed at Perth Museum (2024), enabling new scientific and curatorial study. Foster also offers a new reading of the modern "xxxv" inscription as Gray’s personal mark referencing the dispersed fragments.
11:40 PM, 11/13/2025Culture
Researcher traces long-lost fragments of the Stone of Destiny
A new study has identified previously unrecorded fragments of the Stone of Destiny (also called the Stone of Scone), the ancient coronation stone long associated with Scottish and British monarchy. The research, led by Professor Sally Foster of the University of Stirling and published in The Antiquaries Journal, reconstructs what happened to the pieces created after the stone fractured during the famous 1950 theft from Westminster Abbey.
Background: theft, breakage and repair
On Christmas morning 1950, four Scottish Nationalist students secretly removed the Stone of Destiny from the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey. During the removal the stone fractured. The students were not prosecuted; their stated aim was to return the stone to Scotland.
Stonemason and politician Robert Gray supervised a repair that produced 34 small fragments. Gray numbered and authenticated these chips while restoring the main stone; he then gifted many of them to family members, friends, political figures and visitors.
Foster’s findings
Before Foster’s inquiry, only one fragment—documented with a letter and at one time linked to Alex Salmond—had been officially recorded. Foster traced multiple other fragments across continents, locating examples in private collections, museums and family heirlooms.
“Since my findings started to emerge, many members of the public have contacted me with their family’s knowledge of credible stone fragments, often accompanied by supporting evidence,” Foster said, while noting that “there are many gaps yet to fill.”
Her research links fragments to notable recipients such as politicians Winnie Ewing and Margo MacDonald; to a visiting Australian tourist whose family later donated a piece to the Queensland Museum; and to a Canadian journalist who reportedly kept a chip behind his desk. Other fragments became personal keepsakes—one embedded in a silver brooch, another stored in a matchbox and eventually buried with its owner.
Significance and new questions
The Stone of Destiny has a long symbolic role: it was used at the inauguration of Alexander III in 1249 and likely earlier, and in 1296 Edward I took the stone to Westminster Abbey, where it was fitted beneath the Coronation Chair and used for subsequent English and British coronations. The 1950 theft reignited intense public interest and political symbolism; Foster highlights how the fragments have been treated as both politically charged objects and family heirlooms.
Foster also offers a new interpretation of a modern inscription found on the underside of the stone: the Roman numerals "xxxv." She proposes that Gray added "xxxv" (35) to denote the restored main stone plus the 34 dispersed fragments, a private finishing touch that would have been meaningful mostly to him.
Where the stone is now
The main Stone of Destiny was officially returned to Scotland in 1996 and remains part of the ceremonial traditions of the UK (it was used in King Charles III’s coronation). In 2024 it was placed in a permanent display at Perth Museum, a move that has enabled fresh scientific, curatorial and provenance research into the stone and its many fragments.
Why this matters: Foster’s work not only reveals scattered pieces of a famous artifact but also raises broader curatorial and ethical questions about fragments, private collecting, provenance, and how historically loaded objects live on in public memory and private life.