© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw
Cross-Inscribed Stone in the Chapel, Bardsey Island is an early medieval carved stone bearing a Latin cross incised into its surface. The stone stands within the chapel on Bardsey Island, positioned on bedrock of Upper Cambrian metasedimentary rock of the Tremadocian age, which forms the island's solid foundation. The monument is protected by Cadw, the Welsh Historic Monuments service, under reference CN141.
Cross-marked stones of this type are characteristic of early Christian communities in Wales, typically dating to the post-Roman period between the fifth and eighth centuries. The incised cross served both as a religious symbol and as a marker of Christian presence in an island setting. Bardsey Island itself held significant importance as an early medieval ecclesiastical centre, and this stone represents the material culture of that sacred landscape.
The Tremadocian metamorphic rocks underlying the chapel site reflect the island's ancient geological history, formed during the earliest phase of the Palaeozoic Era. The carving of the cross into this durable stone base ensured its survival, allowing the mark of early Christian devotion to endure across more than a millennium on this remote Welsh island sanctuary.
Cross-Inscribed Stone in the Chapel, Bardsey Island is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CN141. View the official record →
Cross-Inscribed Stone in the Chapel, Bardsey Island is an early medieval carved stone bearing a Latin cross incised into its surface. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference CN141.
Cross-Inscribed Stone in the Chapel, Bardsey Island dates from the early medieval period, and is classified as a cross-marked stone. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cross-Inscribed Stone in the Chapel, Bardsey Island is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is CN141.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Inscribed Stone in the Chapel, Bardsey Island (0 km), St Mary's Abbey, Bardsey Island (0.1 km), Mynydd Enlli Round Barrow, Bardsey Island (0.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cross-Inscribed Stone in the Chapel, Bardsey Island's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Cross-Inscribed Stone in the Chapel, Bardsey Island stands on Upper Cambrian, Including Tremadoc, bedrock that formed in the Tremadocian. The rock here is metasedimentary rock.