Odda's Dedication Stone is an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

object in the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. It bears an inscription regarding the dedication of a chapel at

Deerhurst Deerhurst is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, about southwest of Tewkesbury. The village is on the east bank of the River Severn. The parish includes the village of Apperley and the hamlet of Deerhurst Walton. The 20 ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. The building, known as

Odda's Chapel Odda's Chapel is a former chantry chapel at Deerhurst, Gloucestershire. It is an 11th-century late Anglo-Saxon architecture, Anglo-Saxon building, completed a decade before the Norman Conquest of England. In the 16th century the chapel ceased to ...

, still exists.

History

The limestone slab bears an 11th-century inscription in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

relating to the dedication of a chapel built by Earl Odda. There is evidence that the stone remained fixed to the chapel for centuries, but it became detached. In 1675 Sir John Powell discovered the stone on his property at Deerhurst. He gave it to the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Inscription

The Latin text is available at the Ashmolean Latin Inscriptions Project.Ashmolean Latin Inscriptions Project
/ref> The inscription translates as follows:

"Earl Odda ordered this royal hall to be built and dedicated in honour of the
Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...
for the soul of his brother Ælfric, taken up from this place.
Ealdred Ealdred may refer to: * Ealdred of Hwicce, 8th-century king of Hwicce * Ealdred I of Bamburgh, 10th-century ruler of Bamburgh * Ealdred (archbishop of York), 11th-century English ecclesiastic * Ealdred II of Bamburgh, 11th-century ruler of Bamburgh ...
was the bishop who dedicated the building on the second day before Ides of April in the fourteenth year of the reign of Edward, king of the English".

Access

"Odda's Stone" is on display in the Ashmolean Museum. A replica has been placed in

, the building to which the inscription refers.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Teacher's information sheet
Collection of the Ashmolean Museum Medieval inscriptions in Latin Latin inscriptions in the United Kingdom