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Strata Florida Churchyard Cross is an early medieval stone cross standing within the churchyard of Strata Florida Abbey in Ceredigion, Wales. The monument belongs to a tradition of carved stone crosses that served both spiritual and commemorative functions in early medieval Welsh communities. These crosses typically marked sacred spaces, indicated boundaries, or honoured the dead during a period when Christianity was consolidating its presence across Wales.
The cross rises from bedrock composed of Llandovery rocks, a sequence of mudstones, siltstones and sandstones dating to the Ordovician period. This local geology provided the stone from which the cross was carved. The abbey itself, founded in the twelfth century, developed around earlier Christian settlements, and the presence of the cross reflects the deep roots of Christian devotion at this site. The weathered surface of the stone records centuries of exposure to the Welsh upland climate.
The monument is protected by Cadw, the Welsh heritage authority, under reference CD060. It remains an important testimony to early medieval religious practice and stone-carving craft in Wales, standing within one of the most significant monastic complexes in the medieval Welsh landscape.
Strata Florida Churchyard Cross is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CD060. View the official record →
Strata Florida Churchyard Cross is an early medieval stone cross standing within the churchyard of Strata Florida Abbey in Ceredigion, Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference CD060.
Strata Florida Churchyard Cross dates from the early medieval period, and is classified as a cross. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Strata Florida Churchyard Cross 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 CD060.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Carn Fflur Round Cairn Cemetery (3.5 km), Garn Gron Round Cairn Cemetery (4.7 km), Y Garn Round Cairn (5.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Strata Florida Churchyard Cross'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.
Strata Florida Churchyard Cross stands on Llandovery Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Llandovery. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.