Ogham Stone in Tavistock Vicarage Garden

This image shows one of the **Ogham stones** in Tavistock Vicarage garden. An Ogham stone is a stone inscribed with an **early form of writing** known as Ogham, usually used as a memorial. The Ogham alphabet was derived from **Latin** script and the inscriptions are commonly in **old Irish**. They date to the **early Medieval** period. The stone was first noted by Polwhele in 1797, then it was noticed around 1834 by the **Rev. Bray**. It was then in use as a gatepost to a field on Roborough Down near Buckland Monachorum. Bray applied for permission to move the stone to Tavistock vicarage garden but failed. In 1868 Mr Hastings Russell, subsequently the **Duke of Bedford**, had the stone moved to the vicarage garden at Tavistock.