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Object type: Part of grave-cover
Measurements: L. 64 cm (25.2 in); W. 35 cm (13.8 in); D. c.16.8 cm (6.6 in)
Stone type: Pale greyish orange (10YR 7/4) oolitic shelly limestone with a sparry matrix. All the ooliths are hollow and mainly range in size from 0.6 to 0.8 mm although some are up to 1 mm. The shell debris, probably mainly bivalves, is up to 10 mm in size. Bedding is probably parallel to the slab. Probably White Limestone Formation, Great Oolite Group, Middle Jurassic.
Plate numbers in printed volume: Ills. 452-3
Corpus volume reference: Vol 10 p. 256-7
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Part of a gravestone or the top of a tomb, recut at both ends and on one face for reuse.
A: Part of two panels carrying ring-knots, framed by inner borders that are 4 cm (1.6 in) wide and slightly rounded in section, within a wide edging border. The knots consist of three-strand or two-strand interlace looped round a single free ring (closed circuit pattern C: see Cramp 1991, fig. 24). The central strand of the three-strand interlace is pelleted. In one panel the outward-facing elements have pointed U-bend returns, and in the other panel they are rounded.
B: The side face of the stone carries an arcade of half-round arches very similar to Bisley Parish 3, but none of the capitals survive intact. The spandrels and the spaces below the arches are deeply cut back, in order to display the arcade in high-relief. The tops of the arches are bounded by a wide, rounded, edging border.
Appendix A item (stones dating from Saxo-Norman overlap period or of uncertain date).
The carved decoration on this stone is exactly the same as that on Bisley Parish 3 (see below, Ills. 454–5). They must be parts of the same monument, a grave-cover or the top of a tomb that was designed to be viewed from above and from at least one side. There is no indication that there were figures standing under the arcade arches on the side of the stone. The main elements of the design, interlace figure-of-eight or knots, and extravagant use of pelleting, are found on other stones from Bisley as well as stones from Bibury and Broadwell, all dating to the first part of the eleventh century. The arcading on the side face is also paralleled on Bibury 4 (Ill. 38). This monument is probably part of this group.
