AN ancient and rare piece of granite, which until recently has been propped against the wall at Belstone Church, has been the subject of an archaeological investigation thanks to a grant from Dartmoor National Park Authority. Research has been carried out into the Belstone ring cross stone, which has now been taken into the church while an interpretation board detailing the story of the historic item is prepared. Mark Blacksell, churchwarden, said: ?The parks authority has produced a very informative report about it, particularly in linking it with other crosses in South Wales. ?What happened was, it was turned upside down, probably in the 15th or 16th century, and used as a threshold stone in a set of almshouses that were ultimately demolished in the late 19th century. ?At that point the ring cross was discovered on the underside of the threshold stone and it was for that reason it was quite well preserved.? Mr Blacksell said the stone was then moved two miles down the road to the old rectory. When the glebelands and rectory were sold in the 1930s, the stone was then moved to the church, where it stayed propped against the wall until this summer. He said the early history of the ring cross stone, a four foot high hunk of granite with a cross within a circle etched into the stone face, was more difficult to ascertain. ?There are quite a lot of standing stones around this area and one of the first theories was whether it was linked to them, but it looks as though this is a separate one,? said Mr Blacksell. ?They are absolutely certain it comes from between the 7th and 9th centuries. The earliest records of the church at Belstone are from the middle of the 13th century, so it pre-dates that by at least 300 years. ?It?s almost certainly an early preaching cross. A lot of the early Christian sites were just places where they erected a cross,? he said. Mr Blacksell said the DNPA had been ?tremendously helpful? to the parish council in researching the Belstone ring cross, which they have also micro-chipped. Jane Marchant, an archaeologist with Dartmoor National Park Authority, said: ?It?s extremely difficult to date the stone, but by analogy with some in South Wales, we do think it?s from about the 7th to 9th centuries. ?It?s definitely rare, it?s certainly the only ring cross stone on Dartmoor that we know of.? The ring cross design is thought to have been derived from the chi ro symbol, or the Greek letters X and P, which are the first two letters of the Greek name for Christ. The Belstone ring cross was originally a larger piece of granite, and there are still visible marks showing where it had been broken and re-shaped.
