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This stone monument has an information board alongside, seen just to the right of the memorial stone in this picture, which bears the following information.

This stone monument was erected in memory of Robert Loraine, who was 'barbarously murdered' by Scottish raiders in 1483 'as he was returning home from church alone, where he had been at his private devotions.'

Loraine was a border reiver and (according to the 1738 history of the Loraine Family) 'a zealous Prosecutor of Robbers, Thieves and Moss-Troopers.' He lived during a time of semi-lawlessness, in which 'reiving' or 'raiding' on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border was commonplace.

Robert Loraine's family had made Kirkharle Tower (a defensive pele tower) their home in the early 1400's. The tower at Kirkharle was linked for defence with one owned by the Fenwicks in Wallington. Robert kept a certain number of horses and arms always ready, suitable for his estate....to pursue the Scots Excursions and Depradations into Northumberland.

Robert Loraine was killed by 'a party of men' who 'lay in ambush' between his house and the church... and on his return home suddenly surprised him and dragged him into an adjacent close.

The circumstances of his death were particularly bloodthirsty; Robert's descendant, Sir Lambton Loraine, 11th Baronet, recounted to a journalist from the New York Times in 1874. The latter wrote that the killers 'were determined to strike terror into the hearts of his allies, 'The Fenwickes, Wallingtons, Shaftoes' by the brutality of the murder. Robert's body was cut up 'small as flesh for the pot' and placed in the saddlebags of his horse, which was then set loose to wander home.

The memorial stone was erected in 1728, by Sir William Loraine, 2nd Baronet (the first employer of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown) replacing an earlier monument to 'This Unfortunate Gentleman' which had fallen into disrepair.