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AN OGAM STONE AT LEWANNICK, CORNWALL. 



BY ARTHUR G. LANGDON. 

 (Reprinted by permission from the Journal of the British Archceological 



Association. Vol. 48, 1892). 



It has always been a matter of some surprise that no 

 monument bearing an Ogam inscription has hitherto been found 

 in Cornwall, as in the adjoining county of Devon two have been 

 discovered: viz., one from Fardel, now in the British Museum; 

 and another from Buckland Monachorura, now at Tavistock.* 

 I am, therefore, extremely glad to be able to report the discovery 

 of such a stone on 7th June last in the churchyard of Lewannick. 

 This place is situated about five miles south-west of Launceston. 

 The stone stands on the south side of the churchyard, near 8 

 large tree. No doabt the readers of this Journal will recollect 

 that the church was destroyed by fire on 11th January, 1890, 

 and although, since its rebuilding, it has been visited by 

 numbers of people, it is remarkable that no person has observed 

 the characters on this stone. Even the old sexton informed me 

 that he had never heard that it had attracted the notice of any 

 one. 



The stone is a rectangular block of granite, apparently 

 deeply buried. The front is curved slightly inwards from top 

 to bottom, and a portion of the back is split oif in a similar 

 manner to the " Other Half Stone" at St. Cleer.f There is also 

 a vertical fracture at the top. 



With the assistance of the sexton and a friend who 

 accompanied me, I dug out the earth to a depth of 1 8 in. (a 

 matter of some difiiculty, owing to the roots of the tree), but 

 no further traces of Ogams were found lower than about 9 in. 

 beneath the surface. The height of the stone above the ground 

 is 4 ft. ; the width varies from 1 ft. 3 in to 1 ft. 5 in., the 

 greatest width being in the middle. Where the size of the 

 upper portion of the stone is reduced by the piece being broken 

 off, it is 5^ in. thick ; the remainder is 9 in thick. 



* Hub ler's Inscripiiones Britannice Christianoe, Nos. 24 and 25. 

 f Jouvn. Brit. Arch. Assoc, vol. xlvi, p. 325. 



