Although things have had to shut down on site due to coronavirus we are still busy in the background doing things. One of these is looking at a find discovered in the stream by our contractors.
What they discovered has turned out to be a significant fragment from a late medieval grave-slab, 14th or 15th century in date. As you can see there is a crude hourglass on the left-hand side, the pommel of a sword or dagger right-hand side, and a ragged central cross which you can see in the rough reconstruction we have put together.
From the Archaeological Report
“From within the stream bed a sizable fragment of a grave slab was recovered. This was part of 14th or 15th century grave slab (H. Williams pers. comm.) with a ragged cross dividing the stone into quadrants. On the left side is a crude hourglass and on the right the pommel of either a sword or dagger (Figure 12, Plates 36 and 37). This slab, was possibly taken from the church as part of the restoration that took place in 1880 (Anon 1880).”
“The find spot of the grave slab, in the stream immediately below the church, would suggest that it was originally part of the church furniture. It was probably removed from the church as part of one of the phases of nineteenth century “restoration”, possibly that which took place in 1880 (Anon 1880). Although now broken and somewhat worn it originally had a ragged cross dividing the slab into quadrants. To the left of cross was an hour glass and to the right a sword or dagger. There is some similarity to the ragged cross on grave slabs from Llanfihangel-Yng-Ngwynfa and Rhuddlan (H. Williams pers. comm.) which are dated to the fourteen or fifteen century. The commissioning of such an elaborate grave slab and the possible depiction of a sword hint that the person buried below the slab was of some social status, but unfortunately who it was is unknown”
Click on the images below:
The Archaeology of St Dyfnog’s Well
