A stone with a Latin inscription likely dating from the late-sixth century, which was moved to the grounds of Downing Hall (NPRN 35791, gardens NPRN 86621) by the celebrated naturalist, antiquary and traveller Thomas Pennant (1726?1798), or possibly by his son David, in c.1798. In 1936, the stone was moved to the parish church of Whitford, the Church of St Mary and St Beuno (NPRN 308769), where it is currently set in the floor at the west end of the south aisle. The location of the stone before its removal to Downing is uncertain. In the 1912 Inventory of Flintshire, the RCAHMW noted that the `The most satisfactory evidence for its original location is contained in a little work entitled ?Henafiaethau Caerwys,? ?the Antiquities of Caerwys,? Written by T. Prichard Edwards? This brings it from the parish of Ysceifiog? (p. 94). However, it seems more likely that the original site was a field called Cae'r Orsedd near Plas yn Rhos in Caerwys parish, where it was first described by Pennant in his Tour in Wales (1778?1781). Pennant noted that `[m]ultitudes of tumuli [we]re scattered over the neighbourhood, and one very near it? (Pennant 1883, II: pp. 76?77). The stone was also noted in Gough's 1789 edition of William Camden's Britannia, where it is also described as surrounded by tumuli, although earlier editions of Camden's Britannia, even as late as the eighteenth century, take no note of the stone or of any other antiquarian remains in the parish. It was further noted in the 1912 RCAHMW Inventory that `The inspecting officer was told by John Brunnan of Minffordd, Caerwys, aged about 70, that about 35 years ago he was told by a man nearly 80 years of age, that he (the latter) remembered a stone with letters on it being removed by Mr. Pennant, the antiquary, from Cae'r Orsedd, Plas yn Rhos, where it was standing in the middle of the field? (pp. 10?11). In its original location, it may have been used as a gatepost.

The stone measures roughly 1.28m high, between 74cm and 84cm wide, and between 20cm and 43cm thick. The roman-letter Latin inscription is written across the long face of the stone, the letters running downward perpendicular to the ground. It reads:
HICIACITMVLI
ERBONABOBILI
Or `Hic iacit muli/er Bona Nobili?. Much of the middle of the second line is very faint, and Pennant (and Gough after him) gave the inscription as `Hic jacit muiler bo ?obiit?. Several translations have been offered for the complete reading. In 1855, J. O. Westword gave the translation as `Here lies a good and noble woman?, while John Rh's proposed `Here lies the good wife of Nobilis? in c.1912 (Westord 1855, p. 154; RCAHMW 1912, p. 100). Nancy Edwards (2013) gives three possible translations: `?Here lies Bona wife of Nobilis (or Nobilius)? or ?Here lies the good wife of Nobilis (or Nobilius)? or ?Here lies the good wife Nobilis?? (p. 349).

(Sources: Cadw Scheduling Records for SAM FL013; Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust, HER, PRN 101603; Thomas Pennant, Tours in Wales, ed. by John Rhys (Caernarfon: H. Humphreys, 1883), pp. 76?77; William Camden, Britannia: or a Chorographical Description of the Flourishing Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Islands Adjacent, ed. Richard Gogh, 3 Vols, Vol. 2 (London: John Nichols, 1789), p. 590.; J. O. Westwood, `Early Inscribed Stones in Wales?, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 3rd Series: 3 (July 1855), 153?56;RCAHMW, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, County of Flint (London: His Majesty's Stationary Office, 1912), pp. 10?11, 94, 100; Nancy Edwards, A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone Sculpture in Wales, Vol II, North Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2013), pp. 349?51)
A.N. Coward, RCAHMW, 21.01.2019