<< Text Pages >> Maen Morddwyd - Early Christian Sculptured Stone in Wales in Anglesey
Submitted by Sunny100 on Thursday, 08 July 2010 Page Views: 6241
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: Maen Morddwyd Alternative Name: The Thigh Stone, St Nidan's StoneCountry: Wales County: Anglesey Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone
Nearest Town: Brynsiencyn Nearest Village: Llanidan
Map Ref: SH495669
Latitude: 53.177859N Longitude: 4.253392W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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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](https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/70/10/2701016_44449863_120x120.jpg)
©2011(licence)
![SH4966 : Llanidan Church by Chris Andrews](https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/04/81/97/4819752_c772fdfd_120x120.jpg)
©2016(licence)
![SH4966 : Gate to old Llanidan Church by Robin Drayton](https://s3.geograph.org.uk/photos/93/26/932627_ff9d6df9_120x120.jpg)
©2008(licence)
![SH4966 : A glimpse of Llanidan House by Gordon Hatton](https://s1.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/07/61/66/7616637_0c4d3226_120x120.jpg)
©2023(licence)
![SH4966 : Anglesey Coastal Path by Robin Drayton](https://s1.geograph.org.uk/photos/93/26/932629_2f6160af_120x120.jpg)
©2008(licence)
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