Inscribed Stone near Glan-Dwr Independent Chapel

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument consists of an inscribed stone, a commemorative monument from the early medieval period. It was first located before 1878 on Mynydd Stamber, Iet-wen Farm at the location of a possible Bronze Age barrow where crochanau (‘pots’) and burning were found. Subsequently it functioned as a gatepost at Trehowel Farm before being moved to its present location in the yard of Glandŵr Baptist Chapel in 1911. The stone composed of dolerite is set upright. It is an irregular, unshaped, quadrangular pillar with a pointed top. On the right angle of one of the narrow faces is an ogam inscription, worn and in parts severely damaged that reads upwards (with uncertainties in brackets): - IGw[.}SS[A]Gw[-]S[U]G[.]- , a certain interpretation of this is not possible at the present time. On the same face is linear Latin ring-cross of diameter 0.21m with a circular depression in each quadrant, the stem of which is linked at the bottom to a second linear cross, enclosed in an uneven lozenge shape of width 0.21m. The date of the inscription is ascribed on epigraphic grounds to the fifth or early sixth century and the crosses on stylistic grounds to the seventh to ninth centuries.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of the organisation and practice of medieval Christianity. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. An inscribed stone may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.