Viking sword.
A Viking sword was found whilst gravedigging in Old Kirk Braddan churchyard in 1867. The find consisted of the upper part of the sword blade, both pommel and guard were missing.
The presence of the sword is taken to imply the existence of a Viking Age burial accompanied by gravegoods.
The object is in the Manx National Heritage collections, accession no. 1954-0458.
Fragment of the shaft of a free standing cross with a loop-form of plait on the shaft. It measures 33 centimetres high x 24 centimetres maximum width and 10 centimetresthick. It was found in the wall of the Braddan churchyard by William Cubbon in 1920 and is kept in the church. It is of Scandinavian date and is recorded as Manx Cross No 146.
A wheel-headed cross-slab with an incised cross of early form with interlace on its front face, and an inscribed cross on the other. It measures 183 centimetres x 43 centimetres x 9 centimetres. It is kept in Braddan Church and was set up at the stile by the west gate to the churchyard. It is thought to be pre-Scandanavian in date and is numbered as Manx Cross No. 78 (56).
This stone was found near the church. It is a rectangular slab, broken down its length. One face is very weathered, but the other still bears a simple cross in outline, the arms surrounded by a ring, and the head and shaft extended.
This broken slab was found c.1856 in a wall near to the church. It bears a cross carved in relief with curved and expanded arms set in a ring. The lower arm is extended to form a tapering shaft, on which the ring is supported. A small circle is incised in the centre of the cross.
This small fragment was found at the church, but is now lost. A cast in the Manx Museum collections suggests that it may be a fragment from Manx Cross 136.
This fragment of sandstone was found in 1920 in the churchyard wall. It is probably derived from the shaft of a pillar cross. One face is flaked away, but the other shows a three-stranded loop plait. One edge shows remains of a twist-and-ring design, and the other a row of triquetra knots.
This small fragment from the face of a slab was found amongst stones from the north wall of the churchyard in 1965. It bears a number of runic letters, but the reading is problematic; only the word 'his' can be made out with certainty.
This incomplete slab was found, broken in two, during renovation work at Braddan Church in the 1990s. It bears an incomplete runic inscription along one edge: only the word 'made' can be translated.
A fine wheel-headed slab, which bears on one face an equal-limbed cross and a ring with broad borders. The upper limb has a representation of Daniel in the lions' den. The rest of the cross is filled with complicated plait work. The edges of the ring are decorated with subtly different plaits, and each quadrant contains dog-like animals. This stone is first recorded in the 1800s when it was described "lying against Braddan church". It stands 1.7m high and 1m wide and has a tapered base showing that it was originally inserted into a socket stone that allowed it to stand upright.
The slab has been cut to create the outline of a wheel-headed cross. The shaft and rear face of the stone are completely undecorated. This focusses all attention on the round head of the stone which contains an equal-armed cross. The four limbs are connected by two concentric bands of interlace, the space in between filled with four dog-like beasts; the bands and the animal in each quadrant are subtly different from the next.
The upper arm of the cross shows a pair of beasts either side of a human face, and has long been presumed to represent the biblical tale of Daniel in the Lions' Den. The remaining arms and the centre of the cross are filled with an intricate, multi-strand plait, which in places is slightly irregular. Other instances of these wheel-headed crosses may be found in neighbouring parishes: Lonan has a near-perfect example (Manx Cross 73), while a substantially less complete fragment can be seen nearby at Onchan (Manx Cross 74).
This wheel-headed slab was stood by the gate by the west entrance into the churtchyard; its earlier history in unknown. The slab is wheel-headed, and bears on one face a small equal-limbed cross within a wide ring, which is supported on a broad shaft. The space between the limbs is perforated. The limbs themselves bear a rough figure-of-eight design, and the ring is decorated with twist-and-ring pattern. The shaft is decorated with a loop-plait. The other face shows an incised cross with curved and expanding limbs, bordered by a fine line. A small ring is cut in the centre.
The site of a medieval iron working site discovered during excavations when a new vicarage was built. Finds included a silver penny and a merels board.
The fragment of a cross from Braddan church, possibly a flake from the middle of the face. The original has been lost, but a cast is kept at the Manx Museum. It is of Scandinavian date and is recorded as Manx Cross No 137, possibly derived from cross No. 136.
