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Cross Slab in Llowes Church is an early medieval stone bearing a carved cross, now preserved within the church at Llowes in Radnorshire. The slab belongs to a class of monuments common across Wales and the western borderlands between the 6th and 9th centuries, serving as grave markers or memorials within sacred spaces. Its carved cross represents the Christian faith of the early medieval period, when such simple incised designs were the principal form of monumental marking before the development of more elaborate carved crosses.
The stone rests upon bedrock of Pridoli age, composed of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone layers that form the underlying geology of this part of mid-Wales. These fine-grained rocks, deposited in an ancient marine environment over 400 million years ago, provided the raw material from which early medieval masons selected suitable stones for carving. The durability of the local stone has ensured the survival of the carved cross marking into the modern era.
The slab is protected as an ancient monument under Cadw's historic environment record. Its presence within Llowes Church demonstrates the continuity of Christian worship at this location from the early medieval period onwards, and it remains an important testament to early Christianity in the Welsh countryside before the establishment of formally organised parish churches.
Cross Slab in Llowes Church is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference RD100. View the official record →
Cross Slab in Llowes Church is an early medieval stone bearing a carved cross, now preserved within the church at Llowes in Radnorshire. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference RD100.
Cross Slab in Llowes Church 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 Slab in Llowes Church 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 RD100.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Garden Earthworks at Old Gwernyfed (5.3 km), Pipton Long Barrow (5.5 km), Remains of Blaenau Stone Circle (6.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cross Slab in Llowes Church'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 Slab in Llowes Church stands on Pridoli Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Pridoli. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.