Clearing the growth from a hedge surrounding his property a resident of Berea near St Davids, discovered an unusual shaped stone.

It is nine inches in diameter with a thickness of four inches, with a central hole with a diameter of two-and-a-half inches.

On the top are two opposing holes designed to accept a handle, and on the underside two rectangular slots. After initial examination it was thought to be a quern top stone.

Quern stones have been used for centuries to grind corn to make flour, examples have been discovered during excavations of Celtic sites, and were in general use during the Romano/British period.

Photographs were taken, and these were forwarded to Mr Adam Gwilt, department of archaeology, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Mr Gwilt is the recognised expert on these stones, and he confirmed that this was a quern top stone. Because of its relatively small size, he called it an interesting discovery.

No parallel examples have been recorded, but the most likely date is early medieval. Further examination will be carried out to determine the type of stone used in its manufacture.

This is the second quern stone found in the last two years from farms around St Davids, and it is by reporting further discoveries to the National Museum that their distribution in Pembrokeshire will eventually be known.

There could be many of these stones that have been recovered during ploughing and put to one side without realising their importance.

Mr Mark Lodwick, the recently appointed finds liaison officer at the National Museum of Wales, would welcome reports of any found. He can be contacted on (02920) 573226.