Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

16 articles on this Page

AN ARMENIAN'S DEATH-BED.

ITatieiies, &c.

THE 64 DEADLY LEAD."

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER.

Advertising

i SWANSEA HARBOUR TURST.

NO MORE MEDICINE. PURGING…

Advertising

SWANSEA SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.

News
Cite
Share

SWANSEA SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. LLANDDEWI AND THE STOUTHALL STONE CROSS. COL. MORGAN, MR. C. H. GLASCODINE. AND MR A. MOFFAT EXPRESS THEIR VIEWS. On Saturday last, under the auspices of the Swansea Scientific Society, an excursion was made to Llanddewi and the stone cross at Stouthall, Reynoldstone. The weather was beautifully fine, and a most pleasurable and profitable afternoon was spent. The party included Col. Morgan. Mr. C. H. Glascodine, Mr. A. Moffatt, Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Seyler, Mr. and Mrs. Suchsland, Mrs. Knill, Miss Wacks, Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Bradford, Principal and Mrs. D. Salmon, Miss Dorothy Salmon, Mr. D. Salmon, junr., Miss Eben. Davies, Mr. E. Starbuck Williams, Mr. A. W. Rees (Metropolitan Bank, Wind-street), Mr. Jas. Brown, &c. The party started from the Royal Institution at 1.30, in well-horsed brakes supplied by Mr. J. H. Rosser, Wind- street. Llanddewi Church was reached in fairly good time. The church stands on a good elevation, it is well-built, and in splendid condition; but it is not so old as many of the Gower churches. It was inspected under the guidance of the Rector, the Rev. Mr. Hughes. One of the tablets in the church reads as follows :—" Sacred to the memory of Anne Shaftesbury Pbillips wife of the Rev. Samuel Phillips Vicar of this Parish, eldest daughter of the late Francis Horsley of Little Hallingbury in the county of Essex and niece to the Right Rev. Samuel Horsley D.D., formerly Bishop of this Diocese who died April XXII. M.D.CCC.XXXIII., aged XXXIX years she was a Christian not merely in name but in the truest sense of the word constrained by the love of Him who first loved her she cheerfully denied herself to do His will and to promote His praise in life His obedience unto death was the ground-work of her confidence for acceptance with God and in her last hours fixed on this the Rock she met death not only with calm composure but with exulting joy inspired by a sure and certain hope of a blessed immortality." The Court-House, close by, in the occupation of Mr. Clarke, was next visited. It is a most interesting buildings one of the oldest in Gower, but it is in wonderfully good condition. Mr. Clarke very kindly conducted the party through the house, when all were much struck with the unique staircase. Votes of thanks were passed to Mr. Clarke and the Rev. Mr. Hughes for their kind services, and the party proceeded to the Stone Cross at Stouthall. On the way Mr. Glascodine drew attention to two stone hand-mills in front of the house of a Mr. John Thomas at Knelston. They excited much curiosity, and one of them bore marks of great age. Mr. Thomas said he had dug up the mills in his garden. A consult- ation between Col. Morgan, Mr. Glascodine, and Mr. Moffat resulted in the gallant Colonel purchasing the stones for £2. Mr. Thomas seemed pleased with the bargain, he placed the stones in the brake-by no means a light task-and the party proceeded on the journey. Arrived at Stouthall, the excursionists alighted and entered the picturesque woods, and Mr. Glascodine led the way to the Stone Cross. Unfortunately, the Cross fell down some time ago. An interesting discussion took place, which Mr. Glascodine opened as follows :— This pillar cross stands in a wood, on the ordnance map called Woodlands," on the east side of the road between Reynoldston and the main road from Swansea to Worm's Head. It is in part of the Stouthall grounds, the mansion of that name being to the west on the other side of the road. The pillar stands about two feet above the ground on a raised pediment, of which I will say something presently. It is of old red sandstone, probably local. It is a long, narrow stone, 9 feet 1 inch above ground, varying in width 6 inches, 13, 14, 12;, 10j, and 9 inches in different places, and 7 to 8 inches thick; in its natural shape or form, not cut or tooled, irregular, and rounded on the edges. Since the sculpture upon it was cut, a piece has broken off one of the top corners, and part of the front has. apparently, flaked away. The side facing the east is most highly sculptured. At the top is a cross, ap- parently in a circle; but the whole is so rude, and, from the loss of the, piece broken off on one side, so incomplete, that it is not possible to speak positively on this point. The cross consists of two cross lines about half an inch thick-neither horizontal nor perpendicular, nor at right angles with one another—ronghly forked at the ends. The arm to the left is about 5 long, those to the top an,1 bottom about 3 inches; that to the right is incom- plete. Between the arms aie three cris- crosses; the fourth space, the lower left, has none. Round the top, and left and lower left of the cross are markings of a line which I have called a circle. It is absent on the right, owing to the breakage of the stone, and below the cross its place is occu- pied by a ribbon or interlaced ornament. There is not much of this to be seen. The bows, if 1 may so call them, or lines to the right and left at the top are fairly clear, and it is possible also to follow those at the bottom, especially the one to the right; but the lines connecting them, owing to the flaking or wearing away of the stone, cannot 11 be traced definitely. From the top to the bottom is 28 inches, and I have endeavoured to design the figure with which the scraps of lines that are traceable best coincide, but this part of the sculpture is as rough and inartis- tic as the cross above it. All that can be said of it with any certainty is that it is an attempt at a ribbon-pattern ornament, of which our early artists were so fond, and re- specting which Mr. Romilly Allen wrote in Archajologia Cambrensis for January last. Excellent specimens may be seen at Llangennith and Llangyfelach. Below this ribbon-scroll is one other sculptured figure. It is a horizontal line which, at the end to the right, divides and curves up and down into semi-circles. It only extends across the right half of the stone, and looks like a double fish-hook or an archaic anchor; but the surface of the stone to the left has fallen away, and it is possible that the line may have curved in a similar fashion at the other end. If so, it was merely a piece of orna- mentation. The sculpture on this side of the stone is old, probably very old, but whatever its age it was performed by a very unskilful workman. It is a bad copy of a class of work which required an artist and an artisan neither was forthcoming. The pillar has also a cross sculptured on its western side, and only a cross but this is, I should say, the work of a different hand, somewhat less unskilful, probably later. It is fourteen inches from the top of the stone, and is twenty inches long and about fourteen wide. This drawing is the outline of a cross, of which the upper and lower arms are about four inches thick, the right one five and the left six inches. The upper and lower parts, the head and shaft, are about the same length. The only ornamentation or amplification is a figure in the shape of an oblong extending into the right and left arms, from which single lines run up into the head and down into the shaft, the points of departure being made into small circles. This figure is square and better put on the stone than the sculpture on the other side- but it is very rough. The lines of the upper part of the circle round the cross, and part of the ribbon pattern ornament on one side, and the extreme right.and left line of the arms of the cross on the other side, are drawn on the bend of the stone. below the upper surface, which shows that the stone has not worn or altered at these places since the sculpture was put on. The pillar stands on a modern erection or pediment. Immediately under it is a circular stone 4 feet 10 inches across, with a somewhat rounded top, with a hole in the centre into which the pillar has been set. This stone presents all the appearance of an old mill- stone. The central bole was not made for the pillar, and at some distance from the centre is a small square bole which serves no purpose as it is, but had probably to do with turning the stone when used for grinding corn. This stone is supported by a built circular step (which it caps), the upper one of three built above the ground, and which are, respect- ively, 10 feet 6 inches, 7 feet 6. inches and 4 feet 6 inches in diameter. The whole .1

Advertising

THE BIRDS OF GOWER. R

BARONESS PATTI-CEDER. STROM'S…

Advertising

THE WELSH DICKY BIRD SOCIETY.

[No title]

SWANSEA SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.