A CALL has gone out for information about a mysterious stone which was found in the cellar of a property in Malmesbury.
Since Malmesbury parish councillor Robert Hastings moved into his house in Cross Hayes two years ago there has been a plethora of exciting discoveries.
When builders started work in the cellar they stumbled across a 22ft deep well and now a peculiar stone above an old fireplace has created even more questions.
Building specialist Darren Smith, of D.M.SMITHS LTD, has been leading the team working on Cllr Hastings' cellar and was instantly drawn to the large stone.
The pair are keen to discover where the stone has come from and how it got into the house.
IT business analyst Cllr Hastings invited Christina Staff and Tony McAleavy from the Malmesbury History Society to come and look at the stone last week.
The society holds regular member meetings, hires speakers, supports education, research and publications on the history of the Malmesbury area.
They believe the distinctive marks scattered across the stone is medieval graffiti and told Robert that the All Saints Church in Christian Malford, near Chippenham, has similar markings.
An archaeologist is due to look at the stone in the next few days.
History lover Darren believes it may have originally come from Malmesbury Abbey.
He said: "This is all about the stone masons’ signature and understanding what it means, then we can try and place that period of time.
"We want to work out why or if it was taken from Malmesbury Abbey after it partially collapsed.
"My heart and belief in my research tells me something more is there.
"We want to find out if the community knows any more information about this striking stone."
Robert said: "It is a very exciting discovery but there are still a lot of questions that have been left unanswered.
"I have been in touch with the historical society, and I am planning on meeting an archaeologist soon.
"It would be great if some archaeological students came over and help us sort any potential treasures from the well."
Darren created a YouTube channel to document all his most exciting discoveries which can be found at youtube.com/watch?v=lr2KvQD74sY
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