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The Boslow inscribed stone in West Penwith stands at a crossroads of very ancient trackways – the overgrown one stretching away into the distance in the photo below is the Tinners’ Way, or Old St Ives Road, which is at least 4,000 years old and links St Just to St Ives 14 miles away and across the top of the Penwith Moors. It’s also right on the boundary of St Just and Sancreed parishes.
Image © C. Weatherhill
First mentioned in the Corpus of Early Christian Inscribed Stones of South-west Britain [1] `the stone was found in the summer of 1877 by G.B. Millett on the moor ‘under Carn Kenidjack’, the Cornwall Heritage Environment Record describes the stone thus:
An inscribed stone is marked at the location on current OS maps. It is situated in ‘Water Lane’ above Boslow and is on the parish boundary between Sancreed and St Just. On the front of the granite stone is an inscription ‘TAET VERA’ in two lines reading downward, and a peculiar cross with a looped transom. On the rear face is an incised cross (described by Macalister as a “cross potent”). The stone measures 4ft (1.22m) high and 1ft 2in (0.36m) by 1ft 1in (0.33m) wide. A site visit by the OS revealed that Macalister’s description of the stone appears correct. It stands on the north-east side of a small (probably modern) mound. The monument is included in the Schedule.
A 3D rendered model has recently been produced by Tom Goskar, and is available to view on the SketchFab site. The stone is thought to be in its original position at the head of a stone-lined grave and bears a single name which can only be read at midday when the sun is exactly in the south: TAETVERA. This is Latinised 7th century Cornish: Taithuere, “exalter of the journey”. The grave and mound have never been excavated and therefore provide one of the oldest known intact graves with a named occupant. A ground plan can be seen in issue 30 of Meyn Mamvro magazine, issue 30.
There has been some recent discussion of the stone on Facebook, where Cornish historian Craig Weatherhill supplied the following information:
A contemporary incised cross on the southern face of the stone, and Alpha-Omega symbols under the inscription, indicate that this is the grave of an early Celtic priest, but which one? “Taithuere” could be a “name taken in religion”, e.g. Wynfrith became St Boniface; Magonus was the birth name of St Patrick; and every Pope in history has done it, too.
Was there a local priest of this era who was known for taking himself off on frequent journeys? There was: St Just himself, actually a man called Yestin, who also journeyed to his other churches at St Just in Roseland and Gorran Haven, while there are tales of his visits to St Achebran at St Keverne. Then there’s the name of this stone in 1613: Crowze East (crows Ust, “St Just’s cross”). Is this the gravestone of St Just?
Yestin (St Just) was a son of King Gerent I of Dumnonia. His other two sons were Selyf (St Selevan), and Cado who succeeded him as king. Gerent I is known to have flourished at the end of the 6th century, so the mid 7th century date for the inscription on this stone would fit a son of Gerent perfectly. Selyf had a son Kybi (St Cuby, Tregony; also the St Kybi of Llangybi, Anglesey). Celibacy was not required of ordinary priests until the 12th century.
Sadly, it seems that the stone (and grave) is now in danger from modern farm machinery as a recent picture shows that deep rutted tracks have been made very close to, and over the grave.
Image © C. Weatherhill
Discussions with the landowner and Cornwall Archaeology Service are under way, and we can only hope that there will be a successful conclusion to those negotiations that will secure the future of the stone and grave.
PAS funding is declining relentlessly. The gaps left by departing archaeologists are being filled by artefact hunters. Despite PAS’s brave face about it at this week’s Conference, that’s a bad thing surely – for detecting will carry on but the education and mitigation by archaeologists the Government said were the two reasons for letting it do so are shrinking. We suggest detectorists stump up some cash as it’s PAS that has kept them in existence. £3 a week each would provide thirty new FLOs. Trouble is, PAS has been asking them for voluntary donations for exactly 3 months now and only a dozen people have responded.
So our suggestion wasn’t serious, it was simply to illustrate that if ever-decreasing outreach and mitigation is considered unacceptable then there’s no viable alternative to regulation. New PAS will have twigged that so hopefully they’ve said so to the Government. When 99.9% of detectorists decline to support PAS voluntarily and 70% of them decline to report their finds, the case for action makes itself. I wonder if the new management has decided that whitewashing doesn’t serve the public interest? A tweet this week from a PAS archaeologist is worth noting. It’s horse’s mouth when for once the horse isn’t being gagged:
“Been FLO here for 10 years. Today detectorist told me generally detectorists in the area don’t trust PAS/BM because they get nothing back.” “Totally sick of hearing this“.
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“What did PAS ever do for us?”
You mean apart from PR and ID services, massive positive advocacy to the Government, landowners and the public – and survival, and all completely free?
Nothing mate.
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We wonder if the National Trust is feeling nervous about its inconsistent approach to protection of World Heritage Sites. It is striking that a member’s question asked in advance, about the National Trust’s stance on the 2.9 km tunnel at Stonehenge, resulted in no reply at the Trust’s AGM on 7 November:
“In view of its firm objection to the temporary visual impact (for 25 years) of the proposed Navitus Bay Wind Park on the setting of the Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site, is the Trust now prepared to reconsider its position on proposals for widening the A303 within the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and actively demand a road solution that would not cause permanent major physical damage to the archaeological landscape of the World Heritage Site and its setting?”
The questioner pointed out that the Trust had said in its objection to the wind park:
“We are deeply concerned about the visual impact on the setting of UNESCO designated World Heritage Jurassic coast”.
The reply from the Trust (sent later by email) was as follows:
“Proposals to develop within or near World Heritage Sites always require careful consideration. We continue to support the principle of a tunnel of at least 2.9km under the Stonehenge Landscape. We believe that a well-designed and carefully located tunnel of that length could provide a significant overall benefit to the World Heritage Site landscape.
In respect of Navitus Bay there was no pre-existing harm to the setting of the World Heritage Site. We opposed the development because it was the wrong scale in the wrong place and was only resulting in harm which the developer had failed to mitigate.”
So it’s OK to object to temporarily harming the setting of one World Heritage Site while actively promoting permanent harm to the setting and fabric of another?
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“Old Oswestry Hillfort” said it all on Facebook:
“But beware! On Thursday 17th December, the Council will be hoping to dumb down another looming error of judgement – one that flies in the face of the public they purport to serve and the express opinion of the country’s most qualified heritage experts.”
In some ways Council Leader Keith Barrow is the gift that keeps on giving for the dismal independent repugnate of Shropshireland. It is not specifically he who wants to damage a nationally important scheduled monument. It is the Council. Now that he has been found guilty of breaching the Council’s code of conduct the public is naturally calling for his resignation but that’s where the danger lies. If he succeeds in hanging on, people will think he’s the main problem. He isn’t. Worse, if (as seems far more likely) the Council throws him out they will seek to imply the stink has departed with him. But it won’t have.
Let the Campaign not focus on Mr Barrow. Let it focus on Shropshire Council (and indeed Heritage England) for supporting the unsupportable.
Shropshire Council’s grubby machinations wouldn’t normally attract attention beyond Shropshireland. However, they’ve voted to damage a nationally significant monument in defiance of national advice so they’re under national scrutiny. So let it be noted they’ve just found their Leader guilty of offending against “the principles of Integrity, Honesty and Leadership” in their Code of Conduct but that he remains Leader! His only punishment is that he must attend “training” to ensure such “oversight” is avoided in the future. Will that help Oswestry hillfort? You decide.
Meanwhile, the evidence they’ve made a huge misjudgement on the hillfort grows ever greater and creeps ever closer. A recent appeal decision in Bredon, Worcestershire involves the same basic issues: would a housing development within the setting of a listed building and an historic monument cause more harm than benefit? The Inspector there ruled yes. The significance of that is that anyone who knows both places will know that by any honest measure the harm at Oswestry would be far greater than what has been judged unacceptable at Bredon (by both an Inspector and Worcestershire Council!)
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It would interesting, to say the least, if the people of Oswestry laid on free transport for the Shropshire councillors to go to Bredon to see for themselves why they’ve caused such a national and international fuss. They like publicly funded fact-finding missions after all!
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Perhaps, nevertheless, they’ll still insist it’s chalk and cheese and far more complex than the campaigners and distinguished national experts are saying. If so that may be yet another “oversight” on their part arising from the fact they’ve failed to read Section 72 of the Bredon decision which could surely also apply at Oswestry. Far from complex, it’s rather simple:
“In view of the weight carried by the heritage harm, this harm is the overriding factor, and is not outweighed by the benefits of the proposal. Due to this environmental harm, the proposal also does not represent sustainable development having regard to the policies in the Framework taken as a whole.”
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Update 25 November
Today the evidence against Shropshire Council’s decision at Oswestry became yet nearer and yet stronger. This time it’s an Inspector’s decision at Norton Hales, Shropshire, just 33 miles from Oswestry: (http://static.ow.ly/docs/Bearstone%20Rd_425A.pdf)
“34. On balance, I am satisfied that the minor harm that would be caused to the Conservation Area would be outweighed by the public benefits that the proposal would deliver.
35. Accordingly, material considerations indicate to me that the proposal should be allowed contrary to existing and emerging development plan
policies”
Which upholds an approach that is missing in Oswestry: build when it’s judged to be justified on balance, not when it isn’t. The latter makes people think something strange has happened.
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Dear Friends,
Good news! I’ve been invited to speak at the PAS Conference on Monday. In my dreams. I’ve already written my speech. Here it is:
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
What a fantastic conference this has been! I’m sure we’ll all leave with two enduring memories: first, the delight on the faces of the PAS staff that a lot of their functions are to be taken over by an army of skilled volunteers (or metal detectorists as the Scheme’s founders called them) and second, all the success stories we’ve heard about how well the Scheme has done and how responsible everyone has become. It seems that British artefact hunters and British archaeologists are now largely interchangeable in both competence and motivation. It makes me so, so proud to be British and a taxpayer.
On the other hand …..
Why, when so many hoards are dug up with the haste and finesse of a starving pig, did no-one at this conference propose a solution?
Why, when 99.5% of detecting clubs don’t make reporting recordable finds mandatory, did no-one at this conference propose a solution?
Why, when some rallies have outrageous rules facilitating the ripping off of us farmers, did no-one at this conference propose a solution?
Why, when PAS confirms that vastly more finds are not declared than are, did no-one at this conference propose a solution?
and why, since all the above is the bitter harvest of 18 years of laissez faire, did no-one at this conference propose regulation as the solution?
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WHY?
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Checking to see if there’s a buried prehistoric monument down there.
Dr Jim Leary has recently been awarded a grant from The Leverhulme Trust to fund a project entitled ‘Extending Histories: from Medieval Mottes to Prehistoric Round Mounds’, which will run until the end of 2017. In essence it means that he and a team of researchers from the University or Reading and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre will be investigasting a number of mottes to see if they conceal earlier prehistoric mounds, something that has recently been confirmed at Marlborough.
You’d have thought there are no massive prehistoric monuments left in Britain that aren’t well documented but it seems that may not be true and that a number of them may be hidden in plain sight. Using a variety of techniques including coring “the project seeks to uncover prehistoric mounds that were adapted for medieval defence or have been misidentified as later mottes – a previously unrecognized phenomenon that could re-write our understanding of both the later Neolithic and Norman periods.”
Read more about the Round Mounds Project on its blog here
News reached us last week that The Portman Hunt had been written to by the National Trust amid claims it’s horses and hounds damaged Hambledon Hill after the Hunt “left the recognised bridleway and came across the hill”. A National Trust volunteer was even quoted saying “They have now twice been guilty of blatant and wilful damage to a scheduled ancient monument. What, I wonder will it take to make them actually take real notice?”
Hambledon from south – Public Domain image by Prof Finn.
Lest the National Trust or others are unaware, wilful damage of a scheduled Ancient Monument is a criminal offence in this country. So why on earth are the National Trust pussy footing around with letters when they should be straight onto the police? A quick internet search shows the hunt isn’t exactly a paradigm of virtue so its explanation that they merely “left the track to round up some dogs.” should be taken with a hefty pinch of salt.
After all its not even as if its a first offence on this site, photographic evidence of Portman Hunt members bombing about the hillfort on quad bikes exists from a previous time as you can see below.
Portman Hunt on quad bikes on Hambledon Hill – Credit: Dorset Hunt Sabs
Those of you with long memories will recall we highlighted a different hunt last year who decided riding multiple horses over a barrow was appropriate. A trend of disrespect and contempt?
The modern archaeological industry is built upon the premise that sites selected for destruction should be recorded before they are destroyed. Following excavation the record is then deposited and the site is consequently “preserved by record”. At Mynydd y Betws the Bancbryn stone alignment was promised such treatment. Sadly whilst the first part was apparently completed the second was not. Carmarthenshire County Council have over the years been repeatedly asked for a copy of the excavation report and whilst most of these requests went unheeded recently a response was received.
“I have not had sight of any such report as part of my investigations, although I do not consider that it has undermined the fact that works have been carried out with due diligence within the development site, and that the condition imposed on the planning consent, and the reason for it, has been discharged in a way that is, on balance, proportionate and pragmatic”.
Basically they are saying that a report was not produced but this does not matter. What happens next time a developer says they will not fund the post-excavation. Carmarthenshire County Council have already set a dangerous precedent. For a site to be preserved by record there needs to be record otherwise the site has simply been destroyed and no amount of fine words will alter that fact.
To be clear a preliminary report was produced, but this included no photographs or drawings of the excavated areas. Instead photographs and drawings were limited to the areas beyond the excavation. How many modern excavation reports include only images of the areas beyond the area being investigated and none of the excavation itself?
Would it be appropriate for a report on an excavation at Stonehenge to be illustrated exclusively by images from Skara Brae?
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For ages The Establishment’s main defence of artefact hunting has been that ”artefact hunters find new sites”. But no longer, not since “Old PAS” conceded in its final days that 70% of finds don’t get reported. There’s no public benefit in the finding of new sites if the public doesn’t benefit. Perhaps with that in mind the Twitter entity “Portable Antiquities” has this week offered a second defence: “Obviously we believe responsible metal-detecting makes a useful contribution to archaeology, highlighting sites previously known.”
But this doesn’t stand up either. If they’re “known sites” they hardly need “highlighting”. Even if they meant the sites can be “better investigated” that’s not true either if no-one is told about them (or the evidence is eroded away forever). It’s hard for the public to credit it after so many years of pro-detecting dialogue from PAS but it’s mandate is and always was just to maximise the reporting of artefacts by existing detectorists, not to defend, praise, promote or expand metal detecting. Doing so is bad enough (ask most archaeologists abroad what they think!) but the fact it is now doing so using arguments which it has itself admitted are 70% invalid is a step-change worse. “New PAS” should grasp the nettle.
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Not a pretty sight now it has been admitted he lacks 70% of his clothes and skin. Yet he’s consistently portrayed as being well covered with both – a handsome fellow who serves the public well.
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Coincidentally, this week someone has written : “Historical research and Natural Scientific research have the same aims. Both history and the natural sciences seek to form evidence-based understandings about a particular subject area”. With all due humble respect, how dare PAS say things in public that will lead the public and the taxpayer to think that most artefact hunting, 70% of which damages or destroys the library or laboratory where research could have been carried out, resembles those two laudable processes?
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The Heritage Journal 
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