NPRN419235
Map ReferenceSM72SW
Grid ReferenceSM7053423675
Unitary (Local) AuthorityPembrokeshire
Old CountyPembrokeshire
CommunitySt Davids and the Cathedral Close
Type Of SiteCHURCH
PeriodMedieval
DescriptionThe site of St Tyfanog's chapel is not depicted on 1889 Ordnance Survey mapping, but is depicted on second edition 1908 Ordnance Survey mapping. A number of early medieval carved stones found outside Ramsey Island Farmhouse in 1963 constitute evidence for an early medieval ecclesiastical site on the island. When the farmhouse was rebuilt in 1963 the contractor noted `five or six `headstones containing markings? lying flat outside the farmhouse, and spoke to someone who could remember them standing upright. The contractor also noted that there were graves nearby, with which he assumed the stones were associated. Graves, stone coffins and headstones were reportedly noted from around 1811, and 1889 and 1908 Ordnance Survey mapping depicts the area some immediately north of the house at Ramsey Island Farm (NPRN 308657) as 'stone coffins found'. The carved stones found in 1963 were reportedly accidentally used in the farmhouse rebuild, although one, St Davids 10 (NPRN ) was subsequently rediscovered in 1967, lying amongst debris.
St Tyfanog's Chapel was documented as a chapelry to St Davids around 1600, when it was described as `decayed?. The chapel may be one of two on the island ? the other possibly dedicated to St Justinian and thought to have possibly been located at the southerly end of the island. An alternative site for St Tyfanog's Chapel is a field at the northern end of the island, referred to as Parc Capel in the 1840s tithe schedule (but not depicted on an earlier estate map, despite field names being given).
Okasha, 1970, `A New Inscription from Ramsey Island? Archaeologia Cambrensis 119
The only known example is a fragment bearing an incised cross and sundial , with the inscription S(.)TVRNBIV; thought to be eighth-ninth, or possibly thirteenth century. Enclosure features (NPRN 400094) in the vicinity of the chapel site may be associated with it.
Sources include:
Cambria Archaeology, 2003, Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Sites Project, Pembrokeshire gazetteer
Okasha, 1970, `A New Inscription from Ramsey Island? Archaeologia Cambrensis 119
Ordnance Survey, 1889, first edition 25in
Ordnance survey, 1906, second edition 25in
RCAHMW, 31 July 2013