(_From a rubbing by Mr J.
Romilly Allen, F.S.A._)]
Nothing remains of the buildings of this early monastery, and what
happened to them, and what caused their disappearance, is purely a matter
of conjecture. We can only surmise that they were destroyed during the
Danish invasions of the ninth century.
At Kirkdale church, which is situated close to the cave already described,
there was discovered about the year 1771 a sundial bearing the longest
known inscription of the Anglo-Saxon period. The discoverer was the Rev.
William Dade, rector of Barmston, in the East Riding, and a letter of
great length, on the stone, from the pen of Mr J. C. Brooke, F.S.A. of the
Herald's College, was read at the Society of Antiquaries in 1777.
The sundial, without any gnomon, occupies the central portion of the
stone, which is about 7 feet in length, and the inscription is closely
packed in the spaces on either side.
It reads as follows, the lines in brackets having the contractions
expanded:--
[Transcriber's Note: The "|"s below are my best rendition in plain ASCII
of a Saxon ampersand, which is a long vertical bar with a short horizontal
bar at the top, pointing to the left.]
+ ORM . GAMAL . SVNA . BOHTE . SC[=S]
[ + ORM . GAMAL . SUNA . BOHTE . SANCTUS]
GREGORIVS . MINSTER . EthONNE HIT
[GREGORIUS . MINSTER . THONNE HIT]
PES AEL TOBROCAN . | TOFALAN . | HE
[WES AEL TOBROCAN . & TOFALAN .
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