View SE of an Early Christian monastic enclosure on Beacon Hill, Lundy Island, Devon, UK, taken from inside the lantern of Old Light lighthouse.
View SE of an Early Christian monastic enclosure on Beacon Hill, Lundy Island, Devon, UK, from inside the lantern of Old Light. The curving bank & ditch of the original enclosure (lann) is visible at the SW (inside the old wall on R); Trinity House built Stoneycroft cottage (1820) & the newer drystone wall to go with the lighthouse of 1819. The cemetery was excavated by the late Charles Thomas in 1969. He suggested that the upright granite slabs (centre R) surrounding a long cist formed the founder's grave or cella memoriae of an Early Christian saint, possibly King Brychan who became St Nectan whose remains were removed to Hartland on the mainland. The inscribed & cross-inscribed stones placed by the bank came from separate locations close by, they bear the names: OPTIMI, POTITI, RESTEUTA (RESTEVTAE) & ...TIGERNI. There were at least 100 undated long cist graves of Early Christian character aligned E-W in the cemetery. The stone foundations of a Medieval chapel dedicated to St Helen or Helena (Elen, Elin) are visible in the NW corner (bottom L) of Beacon Hill, the new church dedicated to St Helen in 1897 (but known as St Helena's or the Church) is visible rear R by the village.
Size: 4961px × 3799px
Location: Beacon Hill Cemetery, Lundy Island, North Devon, England, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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