PERCY'S CROSS
44. BLANCHLAND, NORTHUMBERLAND
CROSS IN THE ABBEY CHURCHYARD
The remains of the cross in the grounds of the Spital at Hexham (Fig. [42]) offer an instance of vine scrollwork, derived from debased late-classic ornament. Another side of the shaft is sculptured in low relief with a primitive representation of the Crucifixion between two figures, which, however, bear but slight resemblance to the Mary and John of post-Conquest tradition.
On the plain of Hedgeley Moor, near Wooler, in the north part of Northumberland, stands a monolith, commonly known as Percy's Cross (Fig. [43]), because it is alleged to mark the spot where, on 24th April 1464, Sir Ralph Percy fell in a desperate attempt, on the part of Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI., to recover the throne for her demented husband. So rude and primitive is this monument that it is hard to believe that it could have been executed in the technically skilled period of the fifteenth century. It displays conspicuously, however, the badges of the house of Percy—the luces, or pike, the mascles, and the crescents, sculptured on its eight sides. The pillar stands on a plain, rugged socket. This cross became the rallying point, where the men of the north, opposed to the religious innovations of Henry VIII., gathered under the banner of the Five Wounds, badge of the ill-starred Pilgrimage of Grace, in 1536-7. Percy's Cross, on Hedgeley Moor, must not be confounded with the Percy Cross at Otterburn, erected to commemorate the battle of Chevy Chase, fought on 19th August 1388. The latter cross is a simple monolith, which has a decided entasis, and is mounted on a pile of masonry, resembling but roughly a flight of circular steps.
The cross in the churchyard of Blanchland Abbey, Northumberland (Fig. [44]), is an interesting example of Gothic design applied to a monolith. From the style of its head this cross can scarcely date back any earlier than the late-thirteenth, or early-fourteenth century.