Gelligaer Standing Stone

This stone can be found on Gelligaer common near Merthyr, It is a roughly squared pillar which when erect would have stood 8 ft high. It stands near a old roman road which lends weight to the theory that the stone marks the site of a christian burial roadside graves being a common Roman custom. The stone is a short walk from the nearby road in fact you can see it on the horizon as you apprach from the north. The stone originally bore an inscription DEFROIHI or REFSOIHI . This was partially defaced before 1862 leaving just IHI visible. Unfortunately this too was vandalised by a group of miners at the begining of the century leaving the stone bare.

The Stone was recorded in the last century as being at the head of an enclosure which contained a burialThe ground around the stone is lower than the surrounding land and you can still see the outlines of what could be the enclosure (see photo below) . There is a local story that treasure is buried beneath the stone. This led a local farmer to try and dig the stone out fortunately he was driven off in true legendary style by a fierce thunderstorm. This may account for tilt in the stone today.

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