The Isle of Man has a rich heritage from the Celtic and Norse periods consisting of more than 200 carved cross-slabs and other stones. The carving usually included a simple representation of the Christian cross and the slabs were normally memorials to the dead.
The earliest written records on the Isle of Man are to be found inscribed on these stones and cross-slabs. About five examples bearing the Ogham form of writing have been discovered. Ogham script is thought to have originated in southern Ireland in about the 5th Century but one of the Manx Ogham stones dates from as late as about the 11th or 12th Centuries.
Celtic Gold Isle of Man has been producing Celtic, Manx and Archibald Knox Art Nouveau style Jewellery for over 25 years.
We take a look at the Manx Celtic Crosses that have influenced our designs over the years.
Runes were a Germanic form of script adapted from the Latin alphabet and much used on Scandinavian memorial stones. Their purpose was to eliminate curved lines and so simplify the carving of inscriptions. Runes were in use from about the 3rd Century until mediaeval times and are found on many Manx cross-slabs.
The Manx crosses were usually erected in the vicinity of the Celtic keeills, which were simple little chapels. In later centuries, many cross-slabs were appropriated, without regard to their antiquity or to the fact that they were memorials to the dead, and were used in building works – for instance, as lintels or field gateposts; built into the stone churches which replaced the keeills; or otherwise desecrated.
The Manx Museum and Ancient Monuments Act of 1886 was a step towards the preservation of the Manx cross-slabs. They are now usually collected together in groups throughout the Island and exhibited in or near the parish church with which they are associated.
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