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CARATACUS STONE

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An inscribed early Christian memorial stone known as the Caractacus Stone. It is a free-standing, roughly wedge-shaped block with an incised inscription on the east face. Further text on this or the other faces may have weathered away. The surviving text is in Latin and reads 'CARAACI' and 'NEPVS'. This has been translated to mean 'kinsman of Caratacus' and it is generally accepted that the stone was erected as a memorial to someone claiming descent from Caratacus.

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[SS 88973356] Caratacus Stone [NR] (1)

Inscribed stone on Winsford Hill, 3 ft 11.5 ins in height, bears
three lines of writing running vertically downwards. The first line
has been chipped away, apparently with intention. The inscription
reads: ......... S ........ CARAACI NEPVS.
The stroke over the second A is not in contact with the letter and
the character should not be taken at AT ligatured. The name is
CARANACI, not CARATACI. (See illustration) (2)

An inscribed stone marking the burial place, certainly of a Christian and on which the lettering of the 6th century, reads CARATICI NEPUS (the Grandson of Caraticus). (3)

Scheduled. (4)

A roof has been erected over the stone. The inscription CARAACI NEPVS is quite clear but there is no indication of the first line of
lettering postulated by Macalister. (See GP AO/65/184/6). (5)

Additional Bibliography. (6 - 17)

SS 88973355. A memorial stone, now known as the Caratacus Stone, with a 6th-century type inscription. It is called Langeston in the 13th-century Forest Perambulations. The stone is 1.2m high and 0.3m wide with a slight lean to the south-south-west. The inscription was discovered in 1890 and a shelter was erected around it in 1906. The stone was removed in 1937, when a small excavation showed there to be no grave. It was subsequently cemented back into position (18).

An inscribed stone, now known as the Caratacus Stone, is as described by authority 18. It lies on the southeastern edge of Winsford Hill on the edge of a series of trackways associated with medieval and post medieval routes across Winsford Hill. The inscription faces away from the trackways.

The inscription, in debased Latin writing of 6th century date, is on the eastern face of the stone. The letters are about 9cm high. It reads "CARAACI NEPVS", the N is reversed. This means either the grandson, nephew or descendent of Caratacus. Authority 2 suggests that a further line of writing existed, above CARAACI, but there is no evidence for this, in fact this area has been subject to weathering. Two other letters, "R" "G", are carved faintly beneath "NEPVS", on a different alignment. These letters are more recent graffiti. The western face of the stone is badly weathered, and part of the top has been recently repaired.

The construction of the shelter, built of local materials in 1906, was authorized by Sir Thomas Acland who leased Winsford hill to the National Trust for 500 years in 1918 (19).

The stone is first mentioned in a perambulation of the boundaries of the Royal Forest of Exmoor, dating from 1219, when it was known as the Langeston (20).

SS 88973355. Inscribed early Christian memorial stone known as the Caratacus stone. Scheduled. (21)

Full description of the stone and discussion of the text. (22)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1962

( 2) R A S MacAlister Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum

Corpus Inscript Insul Celt 1 1945 476-8 illust (R A S Macalister) 1 Page(s)476-8

( 3) Devonshire Association reports and transactions

84, 1952 Page(s)230

( 4) Ministry of Works 1961 Ancient monuments in England and Wales : list prepared by the Ministry of Works, corrected to 31st December 1960

AMs Eng & Wales 1961 83 Page(s)83

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 GHP 19-AUG-65

( 6) by Susan M Pearce 1981 The archaeology of south west Britain

Page(s)172,270

( 7) Somerset archaeology and natural history : the proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

36, 1890 Page(s)82-87

( 8) Archaeologia Cambrensis

Arch Camb (R A S Macalister) Page(s)193-5

( 9) Somerset archaeology and natural history : the proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

64 Page(s)XXXVIII

(10) Archaeologia Cambrensis

Arch Camb 8 (5th series) (Prof J Rhys) 8 Page(s)29-32

(11) by D P Dobson 1931 The archaeology of Somerset

The county archaeologies The Arch of Somer, The County Arch. Series 1931 257 (D P Dobson) Page(s)257

(12) edited by William Page 1906 The Victoria history of the county of Somerset: volume one

The Victoria history of the counties of England 1 Page(s)369

(13) Aileen Fox 1973 South-West England, 3500BC-AD600

Page(s)159,162,244

(14) Somerset archaeology and natural history : the proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

83, 1937 Page(s)166

(15) Devonshire Association reports and transactions

42, 1910 Page(s)482

(16) Somerset archaeology and natural history : the proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

93, 1947 Page(s)18-19

(17) Somerset archaeology and natural history : the proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

128, 1984 Page(s)32-3

(18) Field Investigators Comments

RCHME Field Investigation, 06-DEC-1989, IS Sainsbury.

(19) Field Investigators Comments

Riley H 24-JUL-1997 RCHME Field Investigation

(20) by Edward T MacDermot; introduction by Roger J Sellick 1973 The history of the Forest of Exmoor

(21) Scheduled Monument Notification

EH Scheduling amendment, 12-NOV-2003

(22) Elisabeth Okasha 1993 Corpus of early Christian inscribed stones of south-west Britain

Studies in the early history of Britain Page(s)328-331

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