<< Our Photo Pages >> Nevern Churchyard - Standing Stone (Menhir) in Wales in Pembrokeshire
Submitted by Andy B on Monday, 28 September 2015 Page Views: 12430
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: Nevern Churchyard Alternative Name: Nevern Great Cross, Nevern 1, Nevern 2, Nevern 4 P73 (Pembrokeshire 73), The Vitalianus StoneCountry: Wales County: Pembrokeshire Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Nearest Village: Nevern
Map Ref: SN0833340028 Landranger Map Number: 145
Latitude: 52.025465N Longitude: 4.795106W
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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SandyG visited on 3rd Feb 2016 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5
Anne T visited on 23rd Aug 2014 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 Nevern Churchyard, Pembrokeshire: After having felt ‘thwarted’ by the farmer’s notice to seek permission before accessing the Trafael Rock Art capstone (but with no details of who to contact) we cut our losses and drove back towards Newport to have a cup of tea and a piece of cake. We came across the pretty little village of Nevern. There was a crowd of people gathered around the bench and a large mounting block opposite the village hall river, so stopped to look. What a treat. A stream ran by the western end of the church, with a narrow well laid footpath above the stream, against the bottom of the church yard wall, so you could walk up to the little weir further upstream. According to the church guide book, the mounting block is only one of two left in Pembrokeshire.
The notice board by the bench told us that there was the remains of a castle, a church with two notable crosses, an old Pilgrim’s cross and other things to see. For today, we focused on the church where we found two ancient stone crosses, plus a stone with both Ogham and Latin inscriptions and an incised stone on the external wall of the church.
The church was atmospheric to start with, with its dark yew avenue. A lady was sitting on a tombstone under a yew tree immediately to the left of the gate, sketching, whilst her friend was recording and deciphering writing on tombstones nearby.
At first I couldn’t see the Great Cross, which was right next to the church wall, and partly hidden by the branches of the yew trees next to it. All four sides are heavily decorated with ribbons and interlacing symbols. The guide says the cross is 13 feet high, with the cross being 24.5 inches in diameter. Looking up to the top of the cross, the top seemed ‘too large’ for the shaft, as it protruded by at least an inch on each of the longer sides, and I wondered if these had been a ‘marriage’ but the styles of decoration matched perfectly.
Immediately to the east of the porch before entering the church is the Vitalianus Stone, which the guide book tells us may date from the 5th century, and also has Ogham and Latin inscriptions. On the church wall above the Vitalianus stone, there is an interesting weathered corbel of a male face.
On the north exterior wall of the church, at the left hand corner of the second window in the chancel, there is a lettered stone with a Latin inscription, which has apparently been recut.
Inside the church, as you look towards the east end from the nave, the nave seems to bend towards the south. The guide book says this is only a 1 degree angle, but actually seems a lot more.
There are a couple of very interesting and amusing memorials to members of the Warren family – one next to the Maglocunus Stone and the other in the west corner of the quire. The Maglocunus Stone is built into a window sill on the south side of the nave, and contains another example of Ogham and Latin inscriptions next to each other.
There was also a ‘weeping yew’ (second tree to the right as you entered the churchyard). The ‘bleeding’ limb was round the back of the tree (to the east), and really did weep a reddish liquid.
A couple of hours well spent, satisfying my interest for both church architecture and ancient monuments.
michmax visited on 21st Jun 2009 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5
SteveC visited - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5 Inside the curch are example of stones with Ogham writing. The churchyard contains the weeping ash tree.
Arjessa have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4.25 Ambience: 4.75 Access: 5
Close by is an avenue of ancient yew trees, one of which is said to bleed.
A standing stone (The Vitalianus Stone) is immediately to the east of the church porch with the faint remains of Ogham and Latin inscriptions spelling out "Vitalianus".
Two other interesting stones, also decorated with ogham have been used as window sills inside the church.
For more information see the following:
Vitaliani Stone (Nevern 2): Coflein 304394;
Ogham Stone (Nevern 1): Coflein NPRN 423439;
Incised Stone in Henllys South Chapel (Nevern 3): Coflein NPRN 423440;
Tall Free Standing Cross (Nevern 4): Coflein NPRN 304393; and
St Brynach's Church: Coflein NPRN 300317.
The Journal of Antiquities also includes an entry for St Brynach’s Church, Nevern, Pembrokeshire, Wales, which includes drawings of the incised stones, background information to St Brynach and the church, and a list of reference sources for more information.
Original page by Vicky Morgan, with additions by Anne T and Sunny 100.
Note: Introducing Nevern 4 - Hauen’s Cross? See the photos and the latest comment on our page for more
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