| Corpus Refs: | Huebner/1876:27 Macalister/1945:493 Okasha/1993:58 |
| Site: | TVST1 |
| Discovery: | first mentioned, 1804 Bray, E.A. |
| History: | Okasha/1993, 271: `The stone was first recorded by Bray who saw it in 1804. He recorded information from his father that, some 20 years earlier, the stone had been lifted from the pavement at West Street, Tavistock, as it had `become so worn and slippery as to be dangerous to horses'; it had then been placed as a bridge over the mill-stream near Head weir, about 0.8 km from Tavistock. On 22 October 1804 Bray removed the stone for safety to what was then `the grounds of the Abbey-house, and now within the precincts of the churchyard'. Subsequently Bray (`On my quitting the Abbey-house for the Vicarage') moved the stone to the vicarage garden and had it set up `near the drawing-room window'. The stone is still in this position. This removal probably occured in 1818; Bray became vicar of Tavistock in 1812 and according to Kempe the vicarage was built for him in 1818. In 1822, Lysons and Lysons recorded the stone `on the site of the abbey', but this probably also refers to the vicarage garden'. |
| Geology: | Macalister/1945, 472: `granite'. |
| Dimensions: | 2.0 x 0.51 x 0.27 (Okasha/1993) |
| Setting: | in ground |
| Location: | Tavistock Vicarage Garden; Okasha/1993, 271: `The stone is now in the garden of Tavistock vicarage'. |
| Form: | plain Macalister/1945, 472: `A granite pillar'. Okasha/1993, 271: `The stone is an uncarved pillar-stone'. |
| Condition: | complete , good |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | none |
| Decorations: | no other decoration |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1945): | {N}EPRA{N}I | F/IL/ICO{N}BEVI Expansion: NEPRANI FILI CONBEVI Macalister/1945 472 reading only |
| Okasha, E. (1984): | {N}EPRA{N}I | F/ILICO{N}BEVI Expansion: NEPRANI FILI CONBEVI Translation: [The stone] of Nepranus (PN), son of Conbevus (PN). Okasha/1993 273 reading only |
| Orientation: | vertical down |
| Position: | inc ; broad ; n/a ; undecorated |
| Incision: | pock+rub Macalister/1945, 472: `pocked and rubbed'. |
| Date: | 500 - 699 (Okasha/1993) Okasha/1993, 273: `sixth- to eighth-century'. 566 - 599 (Thomas/1994) |
| Language: | Latin (rcaps) |
| Ling. Notes: | Okasha/1993, 272: `with FILI for FILII'. |
| Palaeography: | Okasha/1993, 272: `The letters, 7 to 18 cm. in height, are in two lines … The text uses a predominantly capital script'. |
| Legibility: | good Macalister/1945, 472: `Inscription...in good condition'. Okasha/1993, 272: `The text is legible, complete, and appears to be primary'. |
| Lines: | 2 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |
Okasha/1993, 273: `The name CONBEVI is Celtic'.