# The Shugborough inscription > Below a carved copy of Poussin's Shepherds of Arcadia on an 18th-century monument at Shugborough Hall, Staffordshire, are the letters O U O S V A V V… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:48:16+00:00 --- **MYS** 0D1M8XQA42K0·Mystery · object # The Shugborough inscription **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=shugborough-inscription) The Shugborough inscription ![At Shugborough Hall 2021.](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/shugborough-inscription-lead) Mike Peel · CC BY-SA 4.0 Where Shepherd's Monument, park of Shugborough Hall, Staffordshire⁠[[2]] Built Between 1748 and 1756, for Thomas Anson⁠[[1]] Relief Peter Scheemakers, after Poussin's second Et in Arcadia ego, reversed⁠[[2]] Letters OUOSVAVV, with D and M below at either end⁠[[1]] First recorded 1817 (Clifford's history of Tixall)⁠[[3]] Listed Grade II*, since 1953⁠[[2]] Owner National Trust⁠[[2]] Status Unexplained Questions 0 of 3 answered People [**Thomas Anson** Owner of Shugborough; commissioned the monument](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/people/FIG0D1M8YER7JJ7/thomas-anson)[**Peter Scheemakers** Sculptor of the relief](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/people/FIG0D1M8YPJ1GDY/peter-scheemakers) Catalog key**MYS** 0D1M8XQA42K0 The Shepherd's Monument stands in the park of Shugborough Hall, the Anson family's house in Staffordshire. Thomas Anson commissioned it between 1748 and 1756. Inside a rustic arch is a relief by Peter Scheemakers copying, in mirror image, Poussin's painting of shepherds reading the words ET IN ARCADIA EGO on a tomb. Below the relief is a stone tablet with eight capitals, O U O S V A V V, and below them, at either end and on a lower plane, D and M⁠[[1]]⁠[[2]]. D M stands for Dis Manibus, "to the spirits of the dead", on Roman tombs, which makes the tablet a funerary dedication in form. The eight letters are first recorded in 1817⁠[[3]]. They became widely known after 1982, when The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail tied Poussin's painting to the Priory of Sion, and in 2004 the estate ran a publicity exercise with two Bletchley Park veterans⁠[[1]]⁠[[4]]. No reading has been confirmed. Of the 3 questions on this site, 0 are answered. The most likely answer to “What do the letters OUOSVAVV stand for?”, not yet confirmed: they are the initials of a Latin funerary dedication to a named person, matching the D M frame. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**What do the letters OUOSVAVV stand for?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/questions/QST0D1M914P3D8V/what-do-the-letters-ouosvavv-stand-for)Most likely: they are the initials of a Latin funerary dedication to a named person, matching the D M frame [All 3 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=shugborough-inscription) ## The object The monument has two Doric columns carrying an entablature with carved heads, one of a smiling bald man and one horned, like Pan. The relief adds a sarcophagus on top of the tomb that is not in Poussin's painting⁠[[1]]. The letters are cut in a single line between the D and the M, which sit slightly lower. U and V are distinguished, as in English inscriptions of the period, so the cutter used U for a vowel and V for a consonant or a capital V⁠[[3]]. The monument has been Grade II* listed since 1953 and belongs to the National Trust, which treated it for damp in 2010⁠[[2]]. [![Shepherd's Monument and its inscribed tablet](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/eaf122867daba82a70261a9810d5fc72d48ad37db47692e7c41d139bf1e4f5f4/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/artifacts/ART0D1M97FT3BDZ/shepherds-monument-and-its-inscribed-tablet) Shepherd's Monument and its inscribed tabletNaggie34 (English Wikipedia), 1748. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/artifacts/ART0D1M97FT3BDZ/shepherds-monument-and-its-inscribed-tablet) **Map of the site** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/map) [Site plan][Region] [+][−] 1 **Shepherd's Monument, Shugborough** Monument Within 100 m 2 **Shugborough Hall, Staffordshire** Estate Within 1 km MappedWithin 1 kmBase map © OpenStreetMap contributors ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## What is known [![First page of Clifford's history of Tixall (1817), with the first printed record of the letters](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/6f48121fe53c4aaf58abf16725a2e8ee942d833438ed5175115caf6929e1c8d7/p1)358 pages](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/artifacts/ART0D1M98YP0PHQ/cliffords-history-of-tixall-1817-with-the-first-printed) Clifford's history of Tixall (1817), with the first printed record of the lettersThomas and Arthur Clifford; scan by the University of Toronto Libraries, 1817. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/artifacts/ART0D1M98YP0PHQ/cliffords-history-of-tixall-1817-with-the-first-printed) There is no record in the Anson papers of who designed the monument or what the letters mean⁠[[3]]. The relief can be dated to about 1748 to 1750, since a poem of 1750 by Sneyd Davies seems to describe it, but the letters are not mentioned before 1817; that they existed by Thomas Anson's death in 1773 rests on a family story⁠[[3]]. The 1817 date matters, because one reading takes them to be 19th-century additions⁠[[5]]. ## What has been tested Little has been tested in the strict sense. The 2004 Bletchley Park exercise, in which Oliver and Sheila Lawn reviewed proposed readings, ended without a conclusion⁠[[4]]⁠[[6]]. Proposed readings have instead been tested against Latin grammar and epigraphic practice: the classicist Duncan Fishwick argued that Stonor's expansion is ungrammatical and that Latin abbreviations cannot be expanded at will⁠[[7]], and Jack Mitchell tested the leading Latin readings against the Anson family's circumstances⁠[[3]]. The estate said in 2014 that it heard from five or six people a week who believed they had solved it⁠[[1]]. ## The readings Latin initialisms. Oliver Stonor (1951) proposed Optimae Uxoris Optimae Sororis Viduus Amantissimus Vovit Virtutibus, "a most loving widower dedicates this to the virtues of the best of wives and sisters"; Sheila Lawn favoured it, but the grammar fails and no Anson widower fits the date⁠[[1]]⁠[[7]]⁠[[3]]. Keith Massey proposed Oro Ut Omnes Sequantur Viam Ad Veram Vitam, "I pray that all may follow the way to true life", which is grammatical but sits oddly under a pagan D M⁠[[1]]⁠[[3]]. Mitchell proposed Optimae Uxoris Optimi Sodalis Viri Annae Venables-Vernon, a memorial to Anne Venables-Vernon (d. 1742), wife of George Venables-Vernon, a neighbour and fellow member for Lichfield; he concedes that a friendship between the two men is assumed, not proven⁠[[3]]. English initialisms and local names. A. J. Morton read the letters as Orgreave United with Overley and Shugborough, Viscount Anson Venables Vernon, a 19th-century addition; the Countess of Lichfield's reading drew on a poem that has never been traced⁠[[5]]⁠[[1]]. Ciphers. Proposals that the letters are a polyalphabetic cipher for "Magdalen", or that they encode the latitude and longitude of Admiral Anson's buried treasure, come from self-published books and give no way to test them⁠[[1]]. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1951 | Oliver Stonor⁠[3] | The letters stand for Optimae Uxoris Optimae Sororis Viduus Amantissimus Vovit Virtutibus: a most loving widower dedicates this to the virtues of the best of wives and sisters. | Disputed | Sheila Lawn of Bletchley Park favoured it in 2004⁠[1], but the Latin is faulty and no Anson widower fits the date⁠[7]⁠[3]. | | 1983 | Margaret, Countess of Lichfield⁠[3] | The letters stand for the English line Out Your Own Sweet Vale, Alicia, Vanishes Vanity. | Disputed | It rests on a poem that has never been traced, and Mitchell likens her method to divination⁠[1]⁠[3]. | | 2011 | A. J. Morton⁠[5] | The letters are early nineteenth-century graffiti by later residents of Shugborough, the initials of local places and families. | Still possible | The letters are first recorded only in 1817, which allows a late date, but the way the letters are shared out among the names looks arbitrary⁠[3]. | | 2012 | Duncan Fishwick⁠[7] | Stonor's expansion is ungrammatical, and Latin abbreviations cannot be expanded at will; a reading must follow the epigraphic practice of the time. | Most likely | Later work applies the same tests to every Latin reading⁠[3], though they rank readings rather than prove one. | | 2014 | Keith Massey⁠[3] | The letters stand for Oro Ut Omnes Sequantur Viam Ad Veram Vitam: I pray that all may follow the way to true life. | Still possible | Grammatical, but a Christian prayer sits oddly under the pagan D M, and Ad should be In⁠[3]. | | 2014 | Dave Ramsden⁠[8] | The letters are a polyalphabetic cipher that spells the name Magdalen. | Disputed | Self-published, with no test that could fail, and not taken up by scholars⁠[1]. | | 2022 | Jack Mitchell⁠[3] | The letters stand for Optimae Uxoris Optimi Sodalis Viri Annae Venables-Vernon, a memorial to Anne Venables-Vernon (d. 1742), wife of a neighbour of Thomas Anson. | Still possible | Grammatical and fits a person known to the Ansons' circle, but the friendship it needs is assumed, and Mitchell concedes it cannot be proven from the stone⁠[3]. | ## What would settle it A document from the Anson family or their circle that names the dedicatee or quotes the expanded wording would settle it. Short of that, a reading has to meet four tests to be worth taking seriously: grammatical Latin (or plain English) in which every letter is the start of one word; abbreviations that follow 18th-century epigraphic practice; a dedicatee or sense consistent with D M on a funerary tablet; and a person or event known to the Ansons at the right date. Several readings pass the first two; none yet passes the last with a document. Dating the cutting of the letters, by tool marks or by finding them in an account before 1817, would also narrow the candidates. ## Questions 0 of 3 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 3](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=shugborough-inscription) **0** [What do the letters OUOSVAVV stand for?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/questions/QST0D1M914P3D8V/what-do-the-letters-ouosvavv-stand-for) 0 of 2 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: they are the initials of a Latin funerary dedication to a named person, matching the D M frame ## Evidence 11 findings [What do the letters OUOSVAVV stand for?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/questions/QST0D1M914P3D8V/what-do-the-letters-ouosvavv-stand-for)7 findings [They are the initials of a Latin funerary dedication to a named person, matching the D M frame.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/answers/ANS0D1M91W41S64/they-are-the-initials-of-a-latin-funerary-dedication-to-a)Most likely +[D M (Dis Manibus) marks the tablet as a funerary dedication.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M923Y57V3/d-m-dis-manibus-marks-the-tablet-as-a-funerary-dedication)Supported +[Mitchell's Anne Venables-Vernon reading is grammatical and fits a neighbour's wife who died in 1742, but the friendship it needs is not documented.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M92BR0MCA/mitchells-anne-venables-vernon-reading-is-grammatical-and)Speculative −[Stonor's widower reading is ungrammatical and fits no Anson widower at the time.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M92KJ0ANC/stonors-widower-reading-is-ungrammatical-and-fits-no-anson)Supported [They are the initials of a Latin religious sentence, such as Massey's 'Oro Ut Omnes Sequantur Viam Ad Veram…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/answers/ANS0D1M92VC7HVX/they-are-the-initials-of-a-latin-religious-sentence-such-as)Still possible −[Massey's reading is grammatical but conflicts with the pagan D M frame and with its own Latin model.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M93363WSP/masseys-reading-is-grammatical-but-conflicts-with-the-pagan)Suggestive [They are a later addition naming local places and families (Morton).](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/answers/ANS0D1M93B04YXV/they-are-a-later-addition-naming-local-places-and-families)Still possible +[The letters are first recorded in 1817.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M93JT2H8Q/the-letters-are-first-recorded-in-1817)Suggestive −[The letter assignments look arbitrary to critics.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M93TM4QPK/the-letter-assignments-look-arbitrary-to-critics)Suggestive [They are a cipher (a name such as Magdalen, or coordinates).](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/answers/ANS0D1M942E33G7/they-are-a-cipher-a-name-such-as-magdalen-or-coordinates)Disputed −[The cipher proposals are self-published and give no test that could fail.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M94A86XSG/the-cipher-proposals-are-self-published-and-give-no-test)Suggestive [When were the letters cut?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/questions/QST0D1M91CG55X4/when-were-the-letters-cut)2 findings [Cut with the monument, between about 1748 and 1773.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/answers/ANS0D1M94SW2FKJ/cut-with-the-monument-between-about-1748-and-1773)Still possible +[Family tradition holds that the letters predate Thomas Anson's death in 1773.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M951P1GP5/family-tradition-holds-that-the-letters-predate-thomas)Speculative [Added between 1773 and 1817.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/answers/ANS0D1M959G55PP/added-between-1773-and-1817)Still possible +[No mention before Clifford's 1817 parish history.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M95HA2VTP/no-mention-before-cliffords-1817-parish-history)Suggestive [Can any reading be tested without new documents?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/questions/QST0D1M91MA24B5/can-any-reading-be-tested-without-new-documents)2 findings [Comparison with 18th-century English Latin inscriptions can rank readings by how normal their abbreviations…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/answers/ANS0D1M960Y0AQV/comparison-with-18th-century-english-latin-inscriptions-can)Most likely +[Fishwick rejects Stonor's reading on grammar and abbreviation practice.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M968R3J51/fishwick-rejects-stonors-reading-on-grammar-and-abbreviation)Supported [No internal test can separate the grammatical readings; only documents can.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/answers/ANS0D1M96GJ4TJ4/no-internal-test-can-separate-the-grammatical-readings-only)Most likely +[Mitchell concedes his own reading cannot be proven from the stone.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M96RC6T7J/mitchell-concedes-his-own-reading-cannot-be-proven-from-the)Supported ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 12](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/artifacts) Photo1 step from object [Shepherd's Monument and its inscribed tablet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/artifacts/ART0D1M97FT3BDZ/shepherds-monument-and-its-inscribed-tablet) Naggie34 · Public domain Photo1 step from object [Clifford's history of Tixall (1817), with the first printed record of the letters](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/artifacts/ART0D1M98YP0PHQ/cliffords-history-of-tixall-1817-with-the-first-printed) Thomas and Arthur Clifford; scan by the University of Toronto Libraries · Public domain (published 1817) Photo1 step from object [Nicolas Poussin, Les Bergers d'Arcadie (Et in Arcadia ego, second version)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/artifacts/ART0D1M99EA3E40/nicolas-poussin-les-bergers-darcadie-et-in-arcadia-ego) Nicolas Poussin · Public domain [See all 12 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/artifacts) ## See also [ **Kensington Runestone** A runic slab dated 1362, found in Minnesota in 1898 and judged a later carving. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/kensington-runestone) [ **Phaistos Disc** A clay disc stamped with 241 signs in spirals, found at Phaistos, Crete, in 1908. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phaistos-disc) [ **Shroud of Turin** A linen cloth with the image of a crucified man, radiocarbon-dated to 1260 to 1390. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shroud-of-turin) [ **Somerton Man (Tamam Shud)** A man found dead on an Adelaide beach in 1948, named from DNA by researchers in 2022. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man) ## References 1. 1.[Wikipedia contributors n.d.. Shugborough inscription. Wikipedia.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D1M8WZW6E0T/shugborough-inscription)cited 11 times here**SRC** 0D1M8WZW6E0T 1. 2.[Wikipedia contributors n.d.. Shepherd's Monument. Wikipedia.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D1M8X7P0G2F/shepherds-monument)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0D1M8X7P0G2F 1. 3.[Mitchell, J. 2022. Shug Days: Cracking a 270-year-old Epigraphical Mystery. Antigone (online journal), 28 April 2022.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D1M8VRT6KC1/shug-days-cracking-a-270-year-old-epigraphical-mystery)cited 20 times here**SRC** 0D1M8VRT6KC1 1. 4.[Laville, S. 2004. Bletchley veterans tackle 'toughest puzzle yet'. The Guardian, 12 May 2004.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D1M8W8E3JN3/bletchley-veterans-tackle-toughest-puzzle-yet)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D1M8W8E3JN3 1. 5.[The Daily Telegraph 2011. Shepherd's Monument code was 19th century graffiti. The Daily Telegraph, early February 2011.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D1M8WR259NH/shepherds-monument-code-was-19th-century-graffiti)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D1M8WR259NH 1. 6.[Herbert, I. 2004. Bletchley Park tries to crack a 250-year mystery: Do 10 letters at stately home lead to Holy Grail?. The Independent, 12 May 2004.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D1M8WG86E5J/bletchley-park-tries-to-crack-a-250-year-mystery-do-10)[doi](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203488546-19)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0D1M8WG86E5J 1. 7.[Fishwick, D. 2012. A Secret Code at Shugborough Hall?. Religious Studies and Theology 30(1): 83-100.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D1M8W0M4TX0/a-secret-code-at-shugborough-hall)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1558/rsth.v30i1.83)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0D1M8W0M4TX0 1. 8.[Ramsden, D. 2014. Unveiling the Mystic Ciphers: Thomas Anson and the Shepherd's Monument Inscription. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D1M8XQA07QM/unveiling-the-mystic-ciphers-thomas-anson-and-the-shepherds)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0D1M8XQA07QM Last edited 27 Oct 2026