Scheduled MonumentsWalesInscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church
Early Medieval · Inscribed Stone

Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church

Carmarthenshire, Wales
Cadw SAM CM071
Period
Early Medieval
Site type
Inscribed Stone
Broad class
Religious, Ritual and Funerary
Nation
Wales
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church is an early medieval monument protected by Cadw under reference CM071. The stone bears inscriptions that testify to the Christian community that occupied this Welsh site during the early medieval period, when such carved memorial stones served as monuments to the dead and markers of faith. The inscribed stone represents a tradition of commemoration practised across Wales and western Britain during this era, when literacy and stone carving remained selective accomplishments often associated with ecclesiastical communities.

The church occupies ground underlain by Ashgill Rocks, a formation of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone deposited during the Ashgill stage of the Ordovician period. This ancient bedrock provided the local stone available for quarrying and carving the inscribed memorial. The choice of stone and the inscriptions themselves suggest sustained Christian occupation of the site from the early medieval period onwards.

The early gravestones preserved within St Michael's Church form an assemblage of funerary monuments that document burial practice and social rank within the medieval Welsh community. Together with the inscribed stone, they represent a continuity of use at this sacred site across centuries, anchoring the spiritual and social life of the surrounding landscape to this location.

Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CM071. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church?

Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church is an early medieval monument protected by Cadw under reference CM071.

What period does Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church date from?

Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church dates from the early medieval period, and is classified as a inscribed stone. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church?

Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's 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 CM071.

What other scheduled monuments are near Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Crug y Bedw, S of Blaen-Rhyd-Fedw (5.9 km), Castell Du Castle Mound (6.1 km), Crugyn Amlwg, Mynydd Trebeddau (6.3 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church

Inscribed Stone & Early Gravestones in St Michael's Church stands on Ashgill Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ashgill. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.