GM221

Gelligaer Common Standing Stone  

19/02/1953  

Designated  

Merthyr Tydfil  

Bedlinog  

310339  

203400  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Standing Stone  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument comprises the remains of an early medieval inscribed stone, which probably dates from the fifth to ninth centuries AD. This leaning, roughly rectangular stone has an inscription running vertically on the south-eastern angle. It reads TEF (? or S) ROIHI or (The Stone of...oihi(?). The stone lies very close to the Roman Road that crosses Gelligaer Common (GM556) and is sited on the south-eastern edge of a horseshoe-shaped enclosure still visible as a low uneven bank. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of the early medieval period in Wales (c. AD 400 – 1100) for which this class of monument forms one of the most important sources of evidence. It forms an important element within the wider early medieval landscape, providing important evidence for this formative period of Welsh history, particularly concerning the origins and evolution of Christianity, the development of stylistic traditions and carved stone production. The area to be scheduled comprises the remains described. It is rectangular in shape on plan and measures 2m N-S by 1m transversely.