A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
September 25, 2025
Early Christian inscribed pillar from 6th or 7th Century in Buckland Monachorum Parish
The author first became aware of this inscribed stone (pillar) in the parish of Buckland Monachorum from an article written by Tom Greeves in the Summer 2008 issue (number 91) of the Dartmoor Magazine. The article was titled: ‘The Start of History – Two Inscribed Stones from Western Dartmoor’ and explored the origins of two stones, one near Sampford Spiney and this one in Buckland Monachorum Parish. The stone at Sampford Spiney is actually on a lane near Sampford Barton, a short distance from Huckworthy Common and has already been the subject of a post on ‘Dartmoor Explorations’, which can be found here: 6th-8th Century Inscribed Pillar near Sampford Barton – Dartmoor Explorations
The inscribed pillar is one of around 80 related stones (pillars) which are scattered across West Devon and Cornwall, which date to the middle of the first millennium. They appear to be memorial stones and as Greeves explained recorded names of people who were obviously considered important and several have a Christian context with chi-rho* symbols. The pillar which is the subject of this post, meets the brief in terms of having recorded names but does not appear to have a chi-rho. The inscription comprises a string of letters which stretch for over 1m close to the edge of the stone. The location of this stone isn’t revealed in this post as the owner of the stone, to whom the author is indebted, wishes it to remain private and of course the author has respected this.
There are five of these stones (pillars) in the immediate area, the two described above and a further three at the Vicarage Garden in Tavistock. It is thought that the people recorded (inscribed) on the stones were the educated elite and the written legacy is the earliest record known to exist of historical people who lived in the Dartmoor region.
*The Chi-Rho symbol is also known as chrismon and is one of the earliest forms of the Christogram formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters CHI and RHO (ΧΡ)—of the Greek word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ (Christos).
Bibliography
Dr Tom Greeves (1997) – The Start of History, Dartmoor Magazine, Issue 91, Pages 8-10
Susan M. Pearce (1982), Church and Society in South Devon, AD 350-700, 16-17, Pl. 1d
Historic England, 2025, Early Christian inscribed stone, Buckland Monachorum
Elisabeth Oshaka (1993) – Corpus of Early Christian Inscribed Stones of South-West Britain
The granite pillar is 1.75m high and the early Christian inscription is located close to one edge. The pillar was once used as the support of a linhay and the evidence of two wedgecuts near the top perhaps supporting the theory that the stone was ‘squared off’ prior to it being used for this purpose. The former open-fronted linhay is shown on the 1845 Tithe Map.Close up of the inscription, in Latin, reads ‘DAPONNIC– NASC FI’, which can be translated as Dapannicius, son of Nascus (or alternatively the names can be reversed, Nascus, son of Dapannicius) This sketch was drawn in April 2000, by Dr Tom Greeves and appeared in Issue 91 (Summer 2008) of the Dartmoor Magazine. The two ‘W’s indicate the locations of the wedgecutsThe inscription ‘DAPANNOCI NASC FI’ is partially worn due to the stone being used by cattle as a rubbing post. Danpannicius is a 6th century boy’s name, of Welsh or Irish origin and thus may assist in dating the inscription. The ‘FI’ part of the inscription may be the word ‘filius’. Many of the pillars across West Devon and Cornwall appear to have Irish of Welsh origins, which tells us that the leaders on Dartmoor most likely came from the Celtic Atlantic region The pillar from different angles. Pearce in 1982 suggested a date of c.AD550 for the stone / pillar with Historic England in 2023 suggesting it dates to about c.AD600The location of the inscription ‘DAPANNICI NASC FI‘ annotated onto a photograph, courtesy of Simon Dell MBEThere are two half slots or wedge cuts in the pillar near to the top as indicated in the sketch and photograph above. This suggests the pillar has had part of it cut off and certainly this technique of cutting creates a timeline which predates 1800, since from that time tare and feather techniques were used to cut stone. Splitting granite required looking for the lines of weakness in the grain of the rock. The ‘wedge and groove’ involved chiselling grooves of usually 3″ (7.6cm) depth at about 3″ (7.6cm) apart with the end of a pick. Then wooden wedges were inserted, soaked with water and allowed to expand overnight. In winter the water would freeze, thus aiding the process. At other times someone might have to continually wet the wood to stop it drying out. The wedgecuts on this pillar are both around 15cm (or 6″) in length. Another early way of splitting was setting fire to wooden wedges thus using heat to split the rockOverall, into the 21st century, this inscribed pillar has survived pretty well, although it has eroded to an extent. In spite of being exposed to the elements, the inscription has survived well for 14 or 15 centuries possibly since the 6th or 7th century.Dr Tom Greeves picture from the Dartmoor Magazine from 2008, which had favourable sunlight and shadows at the time emphasising the inscription
