Medieval stone found in Coventry garden is to go on display

A MYSTERIOUS medieval inscribed stone found in a Coventry garden and believed to be more than 1,600 years old will go on public display for the first time at the Herbert Gallery and Museum on Saturday.

It was discovered in a city garden in May 2020 by Graham Senior who was passing the lockdown hours in May 2020 by gardening. He came across the 11 cm unusual looking rock, which had several horizontal incisions along the side.

Mr Senior said: “It caught my eye as I was clearing an overgrown part of the garden.

“At first, I thought it was some kind of calendar. To find out later that it was an Ogham stone and over 1,600 years old was incredible.”

He shared it with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, also known as finds.co.uk, who confirmed the stone was inscribed in Ogham, an early Irish language dating back more than 1,600 years.

Ogham was an alphabet used in the early medieval period primarily for writing in the early Irish language. Before the Irish began using manuscripts made from vellum, they used the Ogham writing system to inscribe on materials such as stone.

The Ogham stones provide insight into the Irish language before the use of the Insular Latin script.

The earliest Ogham inscriptions date from the 4th and 6th centuries AD. and more than 400 stones and fragments survive – mostly in Ireland and on the coast of Wales.

Although their function is still uncertain, some historians believe they were used for legal purposes in land disputes. They are often found on or near borders and are named after ancestors.

Teresa Gilmore, East Staffordshire and North West Midlands Discoveries Liaison Officer, contacted Katherine Forsyth of the University of Glasgow, who confirmed the origins of the stone and said the script was most likely from the 5th century 6, but possibly as early as the 4th century.

The first part of the inscription refers to the name of a person: Mael Dumcail, but the second part is less certain.

“As to why the object was deposited in Coventry and how it originally functioned, there are still research questions that need to be answered.”

Ali Wells, Herbert Art Gallery and museum curator, said she was delighted when Mr Senior donated his incredible find to the museum.

“As Herbert only collects on the Coventry city border, it is rare for anyone to find something of national importance like the Ogham stone.

“We may never know how Mael lost the stone and ended up in a garden in Coventry, but I hope future research will reveal more of its story.”

The stone will join hundreds of artefacts at the ‘Collecting Coventry’ exhibition, which showcases 75 years of collecting efforts in the city.

Admission to see the stone, which will be on display until April 25 next year, is free.