Standing Stone near Miskin Manor

There is a standing stone in fields to the North of Miskin manor and east of the A4119.

This standing stone was discovered during fieldwork in advance of the construction of the M4 motorway.

Following excavation it was removed and re-erected 16.5m south east of its original position. The stone stands in the bottom of a shallow valley with a number of springs which contribute to a small stream in the valley bottom, passing 11m north of the stone. It consists of a slab of Pennant sandstone.

In its original position, the stone stood vertical, with a maximum height of 1.2m above the surrounding ground surface, which had been hollowed by activities of livestock. The broad sides of the stone faced North and South, the average width being 1.65m, and the thickness varying from 0.51m on the East to 0.39m on the West.

The stone bears an inscription “AT LAST OCT 30 1919 RW”; documentary evidence shows that this was added in error at the conclusion of a land dispute, instead of on the natural outcrop in the field to the West.

A limited excavation in 1976 during motorway construction showed an oval, or boat-shaped, area of compacted stones 1.55×1.45m, covered a roughly semicircular shallow pit to the North of the stone, containing a whetstone and a flint with secondary working.

The socket for the stone contained a massive slab of Pennant sandstone1.50m wide and up to 0.30m thick, leaning against the rear of the socket; its shape and character suggested that it had broken from the upper part of the standing stone. This fill of the socket contained a second whetstone.

Just north of this stone’s location there is also the remains of a medieval sunken trackway

For more information about the history of the community of Pontyclun please visit our online museum