The teacher is amazed to find stone with ancient writing on it while weeding in the garden

A teacher was stunned after he unearthed a stone carved with ancient Celtic writing dating back to the 4th century while weeding in his garden – in Coventry.

Graham Senior, 55, was clearing his overgrown flower bed when he made the incredible discovery during the blockage in May 2020. It has since emerged that the sandstone rock bears an early form of Ireland’s Ogham script – dating from c. 1,600 years. The 11cm (4in) stone has now been put on display at a museum as experts try to uncover the full significance of the mysterious relic.

The rectangular block shows a series of lines inscribed on three sides in a script mainly used in early medieval Ireland. Scottish historian Professor Katherine Forsyth, of the University of Glasgow, partially translated the words to reveal a name – Mael Dumcail.

Graham believes the stone may have been carried as a souvenir by a Roman soldier who had left a girlfriend behind in Ireland. Graham, a married father-of-two who is a geography teacher, said: “During the lockdown, towards the end of May 2020, I was weeding a spot in the garden.

“I just saw this thing coming out of the flower bed after digging about four or five inches down and I thought, ‘this is not normal.’ I realized they weren’t animal scratches or anything like that and decided to investigate a little further. the wife has a friend who is an archaeologist and we told her about it, expecting her not to be too impressed.

“But she started to get really excited about it and before we knew it, we were contacting the local discoveries officer and various museums around the country. No one can say with 100% certainty what it actually is – but it dates. around 1,600 years.

“My house is about 100 yards from a Roman fort called Lunt, which is a visitor attraction and is downstream of the River Sowe. So we think a Roman soldier must have left there when he dropped it and then it was flooded. It was probably a souvenir from a girlfriend who had been left behind in Ireland – but it’s still a mystery.

“It’s a very tactile thing – when you hold it, it feels good – like it was meant to be held. I never knew about it, but it turned out to be quite a remarkable thing to find while weeding. The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum have it now, but they made me a nice 3D replica, so I have a nice memory of it.

Teresa Gilmore, liaison officer for Staffordshire and the West Midlands, told the BBC: “It’s an amazing find, we’re very lucky. Most of the Ogham inscriptions you generally find in the more Celtic areas – Scotland, Ireland and in Cornwall – I don’t generally get them down in the Midlands.”

Ms Gilmore said another theory was that it could have been used by Irish traders to get in touch with each other. She thinks it could be related to people coming from Ireland or early medieval monasteries in the area. Roca will be on display at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry from this weekend (May 11).

Ali Wells, a curator at the museum, said: “It’s really incredible. The language comes from Ireland. So finding her in Coventry was a fascinating mystery. Coventry has been dug up over the years, especially the city centre, so there aren’t that many new discoveries. It was quite unexpected.”