The Vicarage in Tavistock is situated next to the remains of the Great Gate of Tavistock Abbey which is known locally as “Betsy Grimbal’s Tower” (a corruption of Blessed Grimwald). The abbey itself was dedicated in 1318, dissolved in 1539 (in Henry VIII’s reign) before finally being demolished before the end of the 17th century. The vicarage was built around 1818.
The garden at the vicarage holds a secret insofar as it possesses three of five early Christian inscribed granite pillars found in south west Devon. The other two are located close by near Huckworthy Common and near Roborough Down. There was a sixth stone at Fardel Farm, near Cornwood which is now in the British Museum, however, unlike the other five is sandstone.
The first two vicarage stones were brought to the garden in 1818 and 1831 by Rev Edward Atkyns Bray then finally around 1872, the third was added at the behest of the 9th Duke of Bedford. This post describes some of the history relating to the three stones and their carved inscriptions all dating from around the 5th and 6th centuries AD and how they became a feature in the garden. The stones at the vicarage are of historic importance and can only be visited by prior arrangement.
Bibliography
Charles Spence Bate (1870-1879) – ‘The inscribed stones and ancient crosses of Devon’
Rev. D.P Alford (July 1890) – The inscribed stones in the vicarage garden, Tavistock
J.R. Farrant (1949) – Proceedings at the Eighty-seventh Annual Meeting at Tavistock, 15-6
Simon Dell MBE (2024) – The Reverend Bray’s Inscribed Boulders on Western Dartmoor – Trans. Devon. Ass. Advmt Sci., 156, 88–121; The Devonshire Association
Sir Samuel Ferguson (1887) – Ogham Inscriptions in Ireland, Wales and Scotland
P. Rainbird (2016), Mount Kelly College Olympic Legacy 50m Swimming Pool, Tavistock, Devon: Archaeological Recording
This annotated late 19th century map of Tavistock, shows the relative position of the three early christian inscribed standing stones. Tavistock vicarage garden is bounded by the vicarage to the north, a high hedge to the west, a high wall to the east and a water course (supply for the canal) to the south
The northernmost stone (annotated number 1 on the map in this post) stands to a height of 2m, is made from granite and bears the Latin inscription ‘NEPRANI FILI CONBEVI’. The sketch is from ‘The inscribed stones and ancient crosses of Devon’ by Charles Spence Bate, believed to have been published between 1870 and 1879
Stone 1 had been found in a pavement in nearby West Street, Tavistock around 1780, having previously been used as a clapper bridge over Mill Leat (Head Weir) to the north east of the town. It was moved to the garden of Abbey House around 1804 before finally being moved to the vicarage garden in 1818, when the vicarage was built. It is assumed that it was located close to the vicarage so that the Rev. Edward Atkyns Bray could easily view it at close quarters on a daily basis.
Stone 1 in cross section is 0.3 metres by 0.5 metres.
Charles Spence Bate calls this stone the ‘Nepranus’ Stone and states that when it was being used as a clapper (clam) bridge it had been facing downwards and thus ‘was preserved from destruction’
During the construction of the new Mount Kelly swimming pool there was an archaeological recording between November 2015 and July 2016 where features of interest were the former leat for the Mount Foundry and the earlier Town Leat / Mill Brook, the head weir of the latter being where the ‘Nepranus’ stone had been located. The Town Leat / Mill Brook is a dry stone-lined ditch adjacent to Parkwood Road.
Unfortunately a yew hedge in front of the inscribed face of the ‘Nepranus’ stone, makes the inscription hard to photograph. The inscription ‘NEPRANI FILI CONBEVI’ translates as ‘in memory of Nepranus, the son of Conbevus’
Close up of the inscription ‘Neprani Fili Conbevi’. The word ‘Fili’ is accepted as Latin for son, but in the Spence Bate publication ‘The inscribed stones and ancient crosses of Devon’) he considers an article by a Professor Sullivan on Celtic Literature in Encyclopedia Brittanica with ‘Fili’ being the gaelic word for ‘Bard’. Bate does suggest, however, that Professor Sullivan is alone in this thought
A drawing of the full ‘Nepranus’ stone inscription – courtesy of Dr Geri Parlby (Art Historian and Freelance Lecturer)
The easternmost stone (annotated number 2 on the map in this post) bears the Latin inscription ‘SABINI FILI MACCODECHETI’. It has a small niche on one face and is 1.8m high. The sketch is from ‘The inscribed stones and ancient crosses of Devon’ by Charles Spence Bate, believed to have been published between 1870 and 1879
This stone was originally located near the churchyard in Buckland Monachorum, at a former Blacksmiths Shop. It was moved to the vicarage garden by Rev. E.A. Bray in 1831.Charles Spence Bate calls this stone the ‘Sabine’ Stone and states that it once supported the roof at the Blacksmiths Shop. He further states that some of the letters appear to have been recently ‘touched’ to make them more distinctDr Geri Parlby during a guided tour of the vicarage garden stones by the ‘Sabine’ stone
SABINI FILI MACCODECHETI translates to “in memory of Sabinus the son of Odecheti, or Maccodocheti”
Some observers have considered that one of the most striking feature is the sideways letter I used at the end of each word, which is an epigraphic feature unique to early medieval (5th to 6th centuries) Celtic inscriptions from Wales and southwest England.
A drawing of the full ‘Sabine’ stone inscription – courtesy of Dr Geri Parlby (Art Historian and Freelance Lecturer)
The south-western most stone (annotated number 3 on the map in this post) bears the Latin inscription is the earliest of the three. It bears the Latin inscription ‘DOBUNNI FABRI FILII ENABARRI’ and an Ogham (pronounced o-em) inscription ‘ENABARR’. The sketch is from ‘The inscribed stones and ancient crosses of Devon’ by Charles Spence Bate, believed to have been published between 1870 and 1879. The stone has 19th century iron gate hooks still attached to the right edge of the stone and is fortunate they were not fixed on the left side, over the Ogham inscription.
Charles Spence Bate calls this stone the ‘Nabarr’ Stone. It stands 1.5 metres above the ground. It is inscribed DOBVNNI FABRI FILII ENABARRI (translated as ‘Of Dobunnus the smith, son of Enabarrus’). It is thought that the top of the stone has been broken off and it is possible that there is a missing initial word indicated the person who was a member of the Dobuni tribe which settled on the Lower Severn in the Roman period. The ‘Nabarr’ stone had been found by the Rev. E. A. Bray in 1834, when it was being used as a gatepost to a field on Roborough Down. Apparently, the landowner refused Bray’s request to remove it to his garden at Tavistock vicarage. However, at the behest of the 9th Duke of Bedford it was moved. The author has read variously that the stone was moved in either 1868 or 1872. This stone is recorded by Bray’s ‘Legends of Dartmoor’ but intriguingly does not mention the Ogham inscriptions, perhaps suggesting Bray had not noticed them.Dr Geri Parlby during a guided tour of the vicarage garden stones by the ‘Nabarr’ stone
The ‘Nabarr’ stone with its Ogham inscription on the edge of the stone which is closest to the camera position (shown as a series of lines of various lengths and angles to the edge). Ogham is an early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the ‘orthodox’ inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the old Irish language (scholastic Ogham, 6th to 9th centuries).
Zooming in on the Ogham inscription
A drawing of the full ‘Nabarr’ stone inscriptions – courtesy of Dr Geri Parlby (Art Historian and Freelance Lecturer)
In this document by Sir Samuel Ferguson(page 117) there is a reference to the ‘Nabarr’ stone which records: “…the designation or calling ‘Dobuni fabri fili Enabarri’, on the flat, echoed by ‘Enabarr’ in Ogham characters, now much worn but still legible, along the edge of the stone. Enbar would appear as Celtic a form of name as Finbar or Cathbar ; and its occurrence so far eastward of Wales and Cornwall cannot but be historically interesting”. During the summer of 1873, Dr Ferguson, of Dublin, had visited the vicarage and had taken a cast of the ‘Nabarr’ stone, on which Mrs. Ferguson detected the Ogham writing. On his return to Dublin, Dr. Ferguson carefully deciphered the markings. The result of his examination was published in a paper. This story seems suggest Ferguson was the first to understand the markings and that fact that Bray may never have observed the markings
Extract from ‘The inscribed stones and ancient crosses of Devon’ by Charles Spence Bate (page 7) provides a simple explanation of the Ogham alphabet
Close up of the Ogham inscription on the ‘Nabarr’ stone. The inscription is read from the bottom upwards
In spite of Charles Spence Bate calling the stone ‘Enabarr’, he provides this part translation on page 10 of his book for ‘NABARR’. On the stone the two series of 5 ‘score lines’ representing the two R’s can be still discerned near the bottom
Full Latin and Ogham translations of the ‘Enabarr’ stone
