Brecon Cathedral: medieval cresset stone

Description

This remarkable cresset stone was found many years ago lying neglected in a garden in Pendre, Brecon, and was returned to the Priory Church at Brecon after restoration. There is evidence to show that it formerly belonged to the Priory Church, whence it was removed some sixty years ago.
The word 'cresset' is derived from the old French 'craicet', 'craisset' or 'cresset', a cup of metal or other material fastened to a pole to form a portable lantern. A 'cresset stone' was a flat stone with cup-shaped hollows, each being used to hold a quantity of tallow and a wick, which were burned to produce light. These were lit in the Church at midnight, when the Monks came to mattins. It was also common to find such stones near doorways or corners where people had to frequently pass each other, and in the Monks' Dorter.
This was a common method of lighting churches in medieval times. Although there are some thirteen cresset stones remaining in various parts of England, the Brecon cresset stone is the only one so far known in Wales, and is the finest yet discovered. It is rectangular in form, measures 23.5 inches x 21 inches, and is 6 inches thick. It has thirty cups arranged in five parallel rows, with six cups in each row (14 more cups than at Carlisle Cathedral, where the largest cresset stone previously discovered is located) and with the diameter and depth of each cup being about 3 inches. It is of native stone, which has laminated in two places, probably as a result of blows.
Source: Brecon Cathedral Heritage Centre