Gelligaer (menhir)
Gelligaer (also Cefn Gelli-Gaer Inscribed Stone or Gelli-Gaer Stone) is a menhir ( Welsh Maen hir - English standing stone ) on Mount Cefn Gelli-Gaer in Deri near Merthyr Tydfil in Mid Glamorgan in Wales .
The menhir stands on the east side of the Cefn Bugail, near an old track and a Roman road . It is about 2.5 m high and sloping sharply to one side. There was an inscription that ran vertically on its east side. It was partially defaced before 1862 and totally mutilated in 1875. The inscription read: "TEFROIHI" or "TEFSOIHI": (The Stone) of Roihi.
According to reports, the menhir stood on the edge of a small circular enclosure about five feet in diameter. According to William Camden (1551–1623) (who wrote one of the first books on British antiquities) a person had been buried in the middle.
The dating of the stone is controversial. According to some researchers, it is an early Christian monument that marks a street burial according to Roman custom.
A legend tells that a treasure is buried under the pillar: when a farmer tried to dig it up, a thunderstorm came, killed the man and bent the stone.
To the southwest of the stone, 100 m up the hill, is a small round cairn . Nearby on the top of the ridge is the Rundcairn Carn Bugail .
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- Description, photos, location (English)
- Description, image (English)
- Description, photos, location (English)
- Description, image (English)
Coordinates: 51 ° 43'19.7 " N , 3 ° 17'57.8" W.