<< Our Photo Pages >> St Cian's Church (Llangian) - Early Christian Sculptured Stone in Wales in Gwynedd
Submitted by Sunny100 on Thursday, 12 August 2010 Page Views: 8918
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: St Cian's Church (Llangian) Alternative Name: The Melus Stone, The Doctor's StoneCountry: Wales County: Gwynedd Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone
Nearest Town: Abersoch Nearest Village: Llangian
Map Ref: SH297289
Latitude: 52.830636N Longitude: 4.529319W
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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St Cian's Church at Llangian, Gwynedd. The medieval church, dedicated to the 6th century Celtic St Cian, is 1 mile W of Abersoch. In the churchyard (S side) is an interesting inscribed pillar-stone, dating from 5th century CE. It is regarded as being quite rare due to the fact it recalls the name of a doctor. The churchyard is circular, indicating that the site was sacred before the arrival of Christianity.
The 5th to 6th century pillar stone has a Latin inscription which is: MELI MEDICI MARTINI IACIT or The Stone of Melus the Doctor son of Martinus lies here. The stone was obviously a grave-slab. At first glance the stone appears to be a sundial - it may well have been used as one at some stage; a new sundial stands close-by. The stone is considered to be rare as it may be the only ancient stone in Wales to recall a person's profession - and rarer still for a doctor's grave-stone to have survived from Celtic times.
St Cian a 6th century bard and hermit settled at Llangian on land given to him by King Einion. He was apparently a follower of St Peris (Llanberis) and his servant. He is perhaps to be identified with the Welsh bard Cian Gueinth Guant. The 9th century historian Nennius calls him the chief bard amongst a group of five - the others being Anierin, Bluchbard, Talhaiarn and Taliesin. St Cian's feast is commemorated on the same day as that of St Peris 11th December.
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