Adam and Eve Stone
Period: Medieval
NGR Easting: 244965
NGR Northing: 501190
Description: This stone was rescued from the old parish church, which was demolished in 1869. It is a piece of architectural detail, possibly from an earlier church on this site. The surface is now very eroded, but casts taken in the early 1900s show more detail. The panel shows two figures standing to either side of a tree, the obvious interpretation being that it represents Adam and Eve at the Tree of Knowledge.
Eve, on the left, her long hair gathered in a braid and flowing down her back as far as her waist, raises an apple to her mouth. Adam, on the right, has shorter hair which falls to his shoulders and is shown reaching towards the tree while covering his nakedness with his left hand. The tree stands between Adam and Eve, but is a rather small specimen: the tree is more usually depicted rising above the two figures, with its branches overhanging them.
It would be conventional for the scene also to depict the serpent, but if this was ever present it has been eroded or cut away.
View map location on Archaeology Data Service
Site & Monument Type: cross
Category: National Monuments Record: Statutory Ancient Monuments
Site ID number: Manx Cross 147