Another stone contains a beautiful floriated cross with a circle, which may be taken for the tombstone of an Abbot or Bishop. There is another floriated circle, in splendid condition, with no inscription whatever. The other two are simply fragments, one having the point of a spear very distinct, and on the other the old Grecian ornament. As these stones form part of the vaulting of the slype, and are of much earlier date than the present Abbey, and were inserted there when the vaulting was erected, it is a certain proof that there must have been a religious house here long before this edifice was erected. Some antiquarians make out one stone to be Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Hibernia.
During the year 1889, which was the year of the Queen’s visit to Llangollen, Mr. Owen started again to make further excavations. This time he turned his attention to the excavation of the exterior of the north transept and aisle, and here he came upon the buttress of the north transept in splendid condition, also the plinth and buttresses of the north aisle, and at the north-west corner was found a magnificent buttress like a turret tower, and all in excellent state, as sharp as if they had been newly erected, although they had lain buried for centuries, and would have been still buried only for the exertions of Mr. Owen to make this noble ruins interesting to visitors.
In these excavations, between two buttresses, close to the foundations, was discovered a very interesting stone, about 5 ft. 6 in. long, containing a Knight Templar’s sword, or rather a double-handled sword, beautifully sculptured at the foot. This was a very interesting find, and well worth any one’s inspection, especially antiquarians, to whom it must be of great interest, for this shows at once that the Knight Templars must have had something to do with the Abbey either in its erection or as Pilgrims. Or there is another theory respecting this interesting stone:—Knight Templars were usually regarded as the military, and it is possible that a Knight Templar might have been killed in defending the Abbey in those troublous times, and possibly was buried close to the foundations, and this stone, which has no inscription, erected to his memory.
In this excavation was found some beautiful specimens of old stained glass of the thirteenth century, a few tiles, and several pieces of molten lead, which is a certain proof that it had been burnt down at some time or other, probably the same time as the Castle of Dinas Bràn, during the last struggle of the Welsh for their independency.
Valle Crucis now contains three things which are not found in any other Abbey, viz., the oldest Stone known to antiquarians, with a date on; Knight in Armour; and a Knight Templar’s tombstone.
Admission can be obtained by ringing the bell at the west entrance, which will bring the custodian to the door, who, with every courtesy, will conduct the visitor among the ruins and answer any queries respecting the same.
The Pillar of Eliseg.
Leaving the Abbey, let us now proceed through the adjoining meadow to the Pillar of Eliseg, to which we have previously referred. It is situated in a field opposite the second milestone from Llangollen, and stands on a slight elevation, called Llwyn-y-Groes, or the Grove of the Cross. Similar monuments were generally erected on a tumulus or sepulchral mound, and inclosed in a grove.
It is among the first lettered stones that succeeded the Meini-Hirion, Meini-Gwyr, and Llechau, and was erected by Concenn ap Cateli, in memory of his great-grandfather Eliseg, whose son, Brochmail Ysgythrog, Prince of Powys, grandfather of the founder of this rude monument of filial veneration, was engaged in the memorable border wars at the close of the 16th century, and was defeated at the battle of Chester in 1607.
It remained erect and entire until the civil wars, when some of Cromwell’s ignorant zealots, mistaking it for some Popish cross, overthrew and broke it, and it remained for more than a century in a prostrate state, until the Rev. John Price, Bodleian Librarian, uncle to the late Dr. Price, formerly of Llangollen, wrote to Trevor Lloyd, Esq., of Trevor Hall, who, with praiseworthy zeal, had its mutilated remains reared again into its base, which had not been removed, and placed upon it this Latin inscription:—