King Doniert's Stone () consists of two pieces of a decorated 9th-century cross, near
St Cleer
St Cleer () is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and village in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated on the southeast flank of Bodmin Moor approximately two miles (3 km) north of Liskeard. The population ...
on
Bodmin Moor
Bodmin Moor () is a granite moorland in north-eastern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is in size, and dates from the Carboniferous period of geology, geological history. It includes Brown Willy, the highest point in Cornwall, and Rough To ...
,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
. The inscription is believed to commemorate
Dungarth,
King of Cornwall, who died around 875.
History
In the 5th century, Christianity was first brought to Cornwall by monks from Wales and Ireland. The early missionaries are believed to have erected wooden crosses to show places in which they had won victories for Christ. In time these places became sanctified and the wooden crosses were replaced by stone ones.
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The site
The site consists of the remains of two granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
cross-shaft fragments dating from the 9thβ11th century, and an underground passage and cross-shaped chamber below the crosses, thought to be either the remains of tin workings or a possible oratory.[ Scheduled Monument description quoted in Pastscape](_blank)
/ref> The northern cross, the Doniert Stone, is high with panels of interlace decoration on three sides and inscription ' carved in half uncial or insular script
Insular script is a Middle Ages, medieval script (styles of handwriting), script system originating in Ireland that spread to England and continental Europe under the influence of Hiberno-Scottish mission, Irish Christianity. Irish missionaries ...
. The inscription translates as "Doniert has asked or this to be madefor his soul s sake'.[ History and research on King Doniert's Stone: English Heritage](_blank)
/ref>
The inscription is thought to refer to the local ruler Dumgarth (or Dwingarth), who is recorded in the early Welsh chronicle known as the ' as having drowned in around 875 AD. It has a mortise slot and a plinth at the base. It is notable for being the only inscription to a Cornish King also known from documentary sources.
The southern cross, sometimes referred to as the Other Half Stone, is high with a panel of interlace decoration on the east face, a broken mortise slot at the top and a plinth at the bottom.
Excavations
In 1849 the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society carried out excavations around the stones and discovered a hidden vault beneath them. Mr Charles Spence published in the Transactions of that society a paper entitled ''Iter Cornubiense'' in which he details the proceedings of the work. After raising Doniert's stone and placing it in an erect position, a mass of granite no less than two tons and a half in weight, the workmen were directed to dig down by the side of the other monolith. After reaching a depth of about eight or nine feet a hole was discovered. Here they found a cruciform vault eighteen feet in length from east to west and sixteen from north to south the width of the vault being about four feet. The sides were perpendicular and the roof circular and all smoothed with a tool and as level as the rough nature of the naked rock would permit. The men employed for this task came from South Caradon mine. It was reported that the miners said that it was "nothing but old workings in other words ancient mine works."
The underground rock-cut chamber begins as a passage about to the south east of the crosses, turns into a tunnel and ends as a cruciform chamber beneath the crosses. The relationship between the underground chamber and the crosses is unknown.
The site is managed by the Cornwall Heritage Trust on behalf of English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
. Vehicles can park in a layby adjoining the site, entry is free and the site can be visited at any reasonable time during daylight hours.
See also
*Pillar of Eliseg
The Pillar of Eliseg β also known as Elise's Pillar or Croes Elisedd in Welsh β stands near Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbighshire, Wales rid reference It was erected by Cyngen ap Cadell (died 855), king of Kingdom of Powys, Powys in honour o ...
, a contemporary monument in the kingdom of Powys, Wales
References
External links
English Heritage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donierts Stone, King
Archaeological sites in Cornwall
English Heritage sites in Cornwall
High crosses in England
King Doniert's Stone
Monuments and memorials in Cornwall
Monumental crosses in England
9th-century inscriptions