Teacher, 55, is stunned to discover a 1,600-year-old stone with ancient Celtic script while weeding in his garden in Coventry

A coach was near stunned aft digging up a chromatic carved pinch an ancient Celtic book making love backmost to nan 4th Century while weeding successful his plot - successful Coventry.

Graham Senior, 55, had been clearing retired his overgrown flowerbed erstwhile he made nan unthinkable find during lockdown successful May 2020.

It has since emerged nan sandstone stone bears an early shape of Ogham book from Ireland - making love backmost astir 1,600 years.

The 11cm (4ins) chromatic has now gone connected show astatine a depository while experts effort to fig retired nan afloat meaning of nan mysterious relic.

The rectangular artifact features a bid of lines inscribed connected 3 sides successful a book chiefly utilized successful early medieval Ireland.

Scottish historiographer Professor Katherine Forsyth, from nan University of Glasgow, has partially translated nan words to uncover a sanction - Mael Dumcail.

Graham believes nan chromatic whitethorn person been carried arsenic a keepsake by a Roman worker who had near down a sweetheart successful Ireland.

Married dad-of-two Graham, a surface science teacher, said: 'It was during lockdown towards nan extremity of May 2020 I was doing a spot of weeding successful nan garden.

'I conscionable saw this point sticking retired of nan flowerbed aft digging astir 4 aliases 5 inches down and thought 'that's not normal'.

'I could show they were not scratchings from an animal aliases thing for illustration that and decided to analyse a small further.

'My woman has a friend who is an archeologist and we told her astir it, expecting her to not beryllium very impressed.

'But she began getting very excited astir it and earlier we knew it, we were successful touch pinch nan section finds serviceman and various museums from up and down nan country.

'Nobody tin opportunity for 100 per cent certainty what it really is - but it dates backmost astir 1,600 years.

'My location sits astir 100 yards distant from a Roman fort called Lunt which is simply a visitant attraction and sits downstream of nan River Sowe.

'So we deliberation a Roman worker must person been stepping distant from location erstwhile he has dropped it and past it's been flooded away.

'It was perchance a keepsake from a sweetheart who had been near down successful Ireland - but its still evidently rather a mystery.

'It's a very tactile point - erstwhile you person it successful your hand, it conscionable feels correct - arsenic if it was meant to beryllium held.

'I ne'er knew it astatine nan clip but it turned retired to beryllium rather a singular point to find while weeding retired nan flowerbed.

'The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum now has it but they person done maine a bully 3D replica truthful I do person a bully memento from it.'

Teresa Gilmore, finds liaison serviceman for Staffordshire and West Midlands told nan BBC: 'It's an astonishing find, we're very lucky.

'Most Ogham inscriptions you mostly find successful nan much Celtic areas - Scotland, Ireland and down successful Cornwall - you don't mostly get them down successful nan Midlands.'

Ms Gilmore said different mentation was that it could person been utilized by Irish tradesmen to make interaction pinch each other.

She believes it could beryllium linked to group coming complete from Ireland aliases to early medieval monasteries successful nan area.

The stone will beryllium displayed astatine nan Herbert Art Gallery and Museum successful Coventry from this weekend.

Ali Wells, a curator astatine nan museum, said: 'It is really rather incredible. The connection originates from Ireland.

'So, to person recovered it wrong Coventry, has been an breathtaking mystery.

'Coventry has been dug up complete nan years, particularly nan metropolis centre, truthful there's not that galore caller finds. It was rather unexpected.'