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Stone Circles, a Modern Builder's Guide to the Megalithic Revival

Stone Circles, a Modern Builder's Guide to the Megalithic Revival

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<< Text Pages >> Maen Morddwyd - Early Christian Sculptured Stone in Wales in Anglesey

Submitted by Sunny100 on Thursday, 08 July 2010  Page Views: 6169

Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: Maen Morddwyd Alternative Name: The Thigh Stone, St Nidan's Stone
Country: Wales
NOTE: This site is 1.1 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Anglesey Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone
Nearest Town: Brynsiencyn  Nearest Village: Llanidan
Map Ref: SH495669
Latitude: 53.177859N  Longitude: 4.253392W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Early Christian (or possibly prehistoric) stone in Anglesey (Sir Ynys Mon). At St Nidan's Old Church at Llanidan, about half a mile E of Brynsiencyn (close to the Menai Straits) can be found hidden away in the interior wall, an ancient stone. The stone called Maen Morddwyd or The Thigh Stone - because it is shaped like a human thigh, used to stand up-right outside the church, but at some point it was embedded into the inside wall.

According to legend, this pre-historic stone used to uproot itself and move about on its own accord. At night it would go on a short journey in the locality, but by daybreak it would be back in place again. This could be why the stone was built into the wall - to stop it from wandering around. There is some uncertainty about the age of the stone; some historians judge it to be prehistoric, while others think it dates back to the early Christian period.

In the church porch there is a holy water stoup. This is said to be miraculously always full of water, even though there is no apparent source and no one to fill it up. Over the doorway two carved heads can be seen. Outside there are some monastic arches, perhaps recalling the days when this little church was a dependency of the abbeys at Aberconwy and Beddgelert. The church dates from the 14th century, but it was abandoned in 1844 - a new church being built at Brynsiencyn. However, recently the church has been re-roofed [and is now on private land belonging to Llandinam House].

St Nidan or Aidan was the son of Gwrfyw ab Pasgen. He came to Anglesey, possibly from Ireland where he had been a bishop, and after a spell at Penmon, founded the church of Llanidan in 616 AD. Later, he accompanied St Cyndern (Kentigern) back to Scotland.
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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SH4966 : North Door, Llanidan Church by Chris Andrews
by Chris Andrews
©2011(licence)
SH4966 : Llanidan Church by Chris Andrews
by Chris Andrews
©2016(licence)
SH4966 : Gate to old Llanidan Church by Robin Drayton
by Robin Drayton
©2008(licence)
SH4966 : A glimpse of Llanidan House by Gordon Hatton
by Gordon Hatton
©2023(licence)
SH4966 : Anglesey Coastal Path by Robin Drayton
by Robin Drayton
©2008(licence)

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"Maen Morddwyd" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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Re: Maen Morddwyd by Sunny100 on Wednesday, 14 July 2010
(User Info | Send a Message)
Yes, thankyou for adding that Andy. I was aware of the fact that the stone was not now in the church at Llanidan. Wonder if the owners of Llandinan (Llanidan) House know where it went to?
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Maen Morddwyd by Andy B on Tuesday, 13 July 2010
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I'll change it to 'Early Christian, possible prehistoric', it deserves an entry on this basis, which is why we stretch over to the Early Medieval period as there is often a crossover.

The Thigh stone is discussed in more detail by folklore scholar Jeremy Harte here:
http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/stonewalk.htm

It is described as a human thigh not a thigh bone.
http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/british-archaeological-association-central-commit/the-archaeological-journal-volume-v-26-tir/page-24-the-archaeological-journal-volume-v-26-tir.shtml
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Maen Morddwyd by Andy B on Tuesday, 13 July 2010
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Guile writes:

I was fortunate enough to be allowed to explore Llanidan church earlier this month and regret to report that despite its fabled boomerang like properties Maen Morddwyd a.k.a. the Thigh Stone is not in Llanidan church, and hasn't been there for some time.

I would also query this stone being classified as a standing stone, when legend tells us it is in all respects like a thigh bone, this surely means it can be no more than 19 inches long and 1 inch in diameter?

In summary, there is no proof of any pre-historic interest in this stone, no indication of any man-made markings or carving on the stone, no certified historical references to the stone, and the item itself has been misplaced.

I would challenge this entry
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