MARG2/1

Westwood/1879, 28: `This elegant sculptured stone, of which no representation has heretofore been published, is now preserved in the chapter-house of Margam'.

Ward/1894, 250, reports the making of casts of the Margam stones.

Macalister/1949, 157: `A slab, once on the coping of a wall on the farm Cwrt Isaf'.

Nash-Williams/1950, 148: `The stone is in Margam Abbey Museum'.

RCAHMW/1976, 48: `First recorded at Margam in 1874 as part of the lapidary collection,[1] and now in the Museum there.

[1] Arch. Camb., 1899, p. 139; Westwood, Lapid. Wall., pp. 28-9'.

Macalister/1949, 157: `a slab... in the form of a circular-headed cross'.

Nash-Williams/1950, 146: `Disk-headed slab-cross (head partly fractured away at the sides), with wide splayed shaft. 72+" h. (overall) x 37" w. at bottom of shaft, diminishing to 22" at neck x 5" t. ; full diam. of head, 26". Local Pennant sandstone. The cross is decorated on the face with neatly carved ornament in low relief, and is also inscribed'.

RCAHMW/1976, 48: `The slab of...1.88m exposed height and 12.7cm thick, has a circular head originally 71cm in diameter but cut away roughly at the sides to the width of the neck of the shaft (61cm) which splays out to 96cm at the base. The main face is entirely decorated with ornament in low relief incorporating an inscription, but the sides and back are plain except for an outline cross on the latter'.

Westwood/1879, 28--29: `The head is sculptured with a cross, with the limbs of equal length terminating in dilated square spaces elegantly carved with an endless interlaced ribbon running through a double oval ribbon in each square compartment, the centre of the cross having also a small interlaced double oval pattern: the arms of the cross are united by curved bars ornamented with a curious Chinese-like pattern formed of oblique incised lines, leaving four plain semi-oval spaces between the bases of the limbs of the cross.

The base or stem of the cross is gradually dilated to the bottom, and is divided into two compartments, of which the upper is filled with a very simple but effective interlacement of triple ribbons, and the lower compartment bears on the right side an ornament in two oblong divisions formed by diagonal lines, forming patterns not uncommon in the Hiberno-Saxon and Anglo-Saxon MSS. and on a few of the Welsh stones...On the left side the space is partially occupied by the inscription'.

Macalister/1949, 157: `a circular headed cross with simple fret interlacements on the stem, and a poor key-pattern on the wheel. Beneath the wheel is a panel bearing a similar key-pattern, and another with the inscription'.

Nash-Williams/1950, 146--148: `Front. The head is filled with a square-armed wheel-cross of Celtic type, with the arms filled with plain six-cord plaits (R.A. 505) interjoined by twists around a small central panel containing a pair of interlinked oval rings (R.A. 766). The arcs of the wheel are filled with irregular triangular frets (Cf. R.A. 926) in variant forms. In the spandrels below the head are single triangular frets. The decoration of the shaft is disposed vertically in panels with moulded borders: (a) regular ten-cord triple-beaded plait;[4] (b) double horizontal panel -- r., two squares of diagonal swastika and triangular frets (R.A. 1007 and 985) superimposed; l., Latin inscription...The cross at the beginning of l. 2 is of Latin form, with splayed arm-ends (cf. No. 222); (c) the angles of the plain butt are decorated with incised right-angled lines or frets. Back. Large incised outline cross (cf. No. 236).

[4] The triple-beaded cord is characteristic of Italian interlacing. In Britain plain and double-beaded interlacing are more usual, but the triple-beaded form also occurs in all areas, except, apparently, Scotland. In Ireland triple-beaded interlacing appears to be definitely early; elsewhere, including Wales (cf. Nos. 14, 38, 185, 363--5), it occurs both early and late See CAPCT, p. 246 [Allen/1904b]; LSI, i, [Henry/1933] p. 95; ERA, i, [Clapham/1930] p. 66'.

RCAHMW/1976, 48--49: `The disc-head displays a ringed cross extending to the plain edge-moulding with square arm-ends and hollowed angles, outlined by a narrow moulding; the panelled arcs of the ring are similarly outlined. The inter-arm spaces and those between the ring and the edge-moulding are plain and sunk to emphasise the cross. Each arm-end is filled with plain six-cord plaitwork deriving from paired plaits twisted and linked diagonally at the hub where a lozenge-shaped panel is filled with a knot of two intertwined oval loops. The arcs of the ring contain differing patterns of triangular frets.

The shaft has plain rounded angle-mouldings continued below the disc-head by a narrow beading that merges into a horizontal beading returned at the ends as a triangular fret to fill the spandrels. The main panel forming the upper half of the shaft is filled with ten-cord triple-beaded plaitwork in five regular loops, framed by a plain inner moulding that is continued down the shaft parallel to the edge. The right-hand moulding is doubled back short of the foot to frame the lower panels which are divided by a vertical beading into one square panel (on the left) and a pair of smaller panels. Of the latter, the upper panel contains a diagonal swastika key-pattern and the lower a diagonal triangular key-pattern. In the square panel is a Latin inscription...The narrow panel below these panels is plain except for an incised horizontal fret springing from each angle-moulding and doubly returned.

On the opposite face an incised outline Latin cross, 73 cm high, extends almost to the full width and height of the dischead as well as below it'.

RCAHMW/1976, 48: `In the square panel is a Latin inscription (Plate 12) in five horizontal lines'.

Macalister/1949, 157: `The first two words are to be taken by themselves: the small cross marks the beginning of the essential part of the inscription'.

Nash-Williams/1950, 146--148: `For the descriptive phrase Crux Christi see No. 260. The phrase is here embodied in another characteristic S. Wales formula (cf. No. 233)'.

Nash-Williams/1950, 146: `Round half-uncials, lightly picked in fairly good style, with two abbreviations. The A in l. 2 approximates in form to a D (cf. Fig. 259, D1). The words are interpunctuated with single round points above the line'.

RCAHMW/1976, 48--49: `The lettering is in regular half-uncials with dots separating the words, Manuscript influence may be seen in {P} for pro, in the common abbreviated form of et used for the proper name ending, and in XPI for Christi the P having an open loop. In the second line the five minims here read as NNI are not linked, but the spelling of `Enniaun' (later Einion) occurs in several early documents...The small Latin cross before the name Enniaun has wedge-shaped arms'.