Old Crosses and Lychgates

by Aymer Vallance

At St Ives the cross-head was unearthed in the churchyard in 1832, and re-erected on a new base in 1852. The height of the cross, as now standing, is 10 ft. 6 in. The reverse of the sculptured head portrays the Madonna and Child, with a kneeling figure, most likely meant for the donor. The obverse is remarkable because the Crucifixion is introduced not, so to speak, per se, but rather incidentally, as constituting part of the Holy Trinity group. The crucified Son, then, is placed between the knees of the Eternal Father, Whose hands upraised on either side, the right in benediction, may be observed above the arms of the crucifix. All and any representations of this nature, depicting the Trinity, were peculiarly obnoxious to the reformers, and are yet commonly objected to as being "anthropomorphic." Similar representations of the Trinity occur on one side of the cross-head, with the Crucifixion on the other side, at Cogenhoe, in Northamptonshire, and Pocklington, in the East Riding of Yorkshire (Figs. [114], [115]). There is also a Trinity in the head of the cross at Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire.

The same subject again is sculptured in the head of another Cornish cross, that in Mawgan-in-Pyder churchyard (Figs. [106], [107]). It is made of Catacluse stone, and is a late-Gothic example, with very rich tabernacle-work in the head. In fact, it was singled out by the late J. T. Blight as "the most elaborate specimen of the kind in Cornwall." On the opposite side to the Trinity is a subject of uncertain identity, most likely the Annunciation. A single figure, vested in pontificals, occupies either end of the head. The shaft is hexagonal, with diamond-pointed stops, now much overgrown and practically hidden from view. It stands 5 ft. 2 in. high.

At Ampney Crucis, Gloucestershire (Figs. [97, 98, 99]), the churchyard cross was overthrown at some unknown period. In January 1854 the head of it was discovered, built up amid a heap of rubbish in the cavity of the rood-staircase. Taken thence, it was reinstated in its proper place in the churchyard about 1860. There are two stone steps, which measure respectively 7 ft. 6 in. and 5 ft. square, and an octagonal socket. The shaft is square on plan, changing, by means of stops, into an octagon. The stops, however, instead of terminating in diamond-points, or otherwise dying away into the chamfer, are crowned with engaged pinnacles, extending some way up the canted sides, a most unusual and charming device. It is a misfortune that the effect of this fine cross is spoilt by the faulty, modern treatment of the upper portion of the stem, which, being made too short, is obliged to contract much too abruptly to the junction with the head. Instead of tapering truly, with a series of straight lines converging gradually upward, the shaft is pared away in a concave outline, which results in very serious disfigurement. The total height is only about 10 ft. The head is in excellent preservation, and, though not elaborate, an exceedingly beautiful specimen. It is an oblong square on plan, and thus has two wide sides (occupied respectively by the Blessed Virgin and Child, and by the Crucifixion between Mary and John) and two narrow ends (one occupied by an unidentified ecclesiastic, the other by an unidentified warrior). The canopies are severely plain, being no more than cusped trefoils; while the top is coped in the shape of a gabled roof. The work is of the latter part of the fourteenth century.

Two interesting Herefordshire examples, brought to light a few years ago, have been reinstalled under the auspices of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (as recorded in the Committee's Report, dated June 1916). These two crosses, which are at Madley (Figs. [101], [102]) and Tyberton (Figs. [100], [103]), respectively, bear a striking resemblance to one another. The heads of both are gabled, with a crucifixion on the obverse, and on the reverse a Virgin, crowned and throned, with her Child standing, fully draped, on her knee. The Tyberton cross-head is by far the more perfect of the two. It had been misused as a finial, or hip-knob, at the end of the brick church. The head of the Madley cross is so badly defaced that the figure of the Madonna is all but obliterated. This cross-head was found among the effects of a private gentleman, Mr Robert Clarke, of Hereford, after whose death it was "restored to the very complete base and shaft, which stand in the churchyard." The shafts of both crosses (monoliths, evidently from the same quarry) stand complete. They are of octagonal section, with long pointed stops on the four alternate sides, so that the foot of the shaft is square on plan. The chamfer-stops of the two crosses differ slightly. Both shafts had a similar moulded knop at their junction with the head. The Madley cross-head is executed in a coarse, soft sandstone, which has suffered much from disintegration. But the Tyberton head owes its better preservation not a little to the fact that it is executed in stone of more durable quality. Both these crosses seem to be of approximately the same date, viz., the late-fourteenth or early-fifteenth century.

In the courtyard of the castle, St Michael's Mount, Cornwall, is a fifteenth-century cross (Figs. [104] and [105]). The head is an oblong square on plan, measuring 1 ft. 4 in. by 1 ft., by about 3 ft. 3 in. high to the top of the pinnacles at the angles. On one side is a seated Madonna and Child; on the other a crucifix between Mary and John. At one end is a male figure wearing a cap and civilian gown; at the other a crowned figure holding what appears to be a sword. The knop is octagonal and moulded, with Gothic square pateras round the neck, just above the junction with the octagonal shaft.

At Derwen, in Denbighshire, there stands, immediately opposite to the south porch of the nave, a churchyard cross, which is not only the most perfect one in the district, but also "one of the finest in the Principality" (Figs. [110, 111, and 112]). Unfortunately, its effect is marred by the fact that the shaft leans much out of the perpendicular, towards the east. There are two oblong steps. "The lower portion of the basement," writes the Rev. Elias Owen, in 1886, "has only some of its stones remaining in position." It "measures 7 ft. 4 in. by 8 ft. 3 in. In height the step is 8 in., in breadth 1 ft. The second part measures 6 ft. 1 in. by 5 ft. 6 in. In height the step is 10 in., in breadth 1 ft. 4 in. The stones forming these steps are large." The socket, or "pedestal, is a ponderous stone, 2 ft. 9 in. square at the base, and 2 ft. 4 in. high. The upper bed is brought to an octagon by broaches of convex outline, and the upper edge is slightly canted. The shaft, which is mortised into the pedestal, is 13 in. square at the base, but by sculptured heads, which serve as broaches," or stops to the chamfering, "it becomes octagonal." The chamfers are enriched with sculptures in relief, equidistant from one another, representing angels, human heads, and foliage; and, at the top, oak leaves underneath the bead moulding. Heads and quatrefoils ornament the cove which forms the neck of the shaft. The height of the latter is 6 ft. 1 in.; and the total height of the cross, including the steps, is 13 ft. 1 in. Originally, when complete, it was higher still, but the top of the head, which now measures 2 ft. 10 in. high, has vanished. The result is a somewhat blunted and ungainly appearance. The head is oblong on plan, its four faces sculptured like tabernacled niches, enshrining sculpture. The east and west faces, 1 ft. 9 in. wide each, have double canopies, while the ends, being no more than 1 ft. 1 in. wide, have each a single canopy. The subjects, though much worn, can be identified as follows: North face, the Blessed Virgin, with her Child on her left arm; south face, St Michael, treading on the dragon, and weighing souls in a pair of scales; east face, the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin, with two kneeling donors, the Dove at the top of the group sadly mutilated; west face, the Crucifixion, flanked by Mary and John. Much of the ornamental detail suggests late-fourteenth century work, but it is tolerably certain that it is not earlier than the second half of the fifteenth century.

To south of the church, in the churchyard of St Donat's, Glamorganshire, stands a cross admirable in preservation as it is also in its proportions and detail (Figs. [108], [109]). If there is a fault to be found in it, the arms of the Christ are dragged upward in too oblique a position. The canopy-work is superb, and, regarding the structure as a whole, it must be pronounced an exquisite and refined specimen of the very perfection of Gothic design. Its date is the end of the fifteenth century.

In the south aisle of Sherburn-in-Elmet church, Yorkshire, may be seen what looks like a pair of churchyard cross-heads (Fig. [113]) of identical design, viz., a crucifixion between Mary and John, under a crocketed gable, the extremities of the cross ornamented with emblems of the Passion, and the interspaces filled with exquisite late-Gothic pierced tracery. The history of these two sculptures is a strange one. The head of the cross had been cast down and buried at some unknown date in the past. But it was dug up in the latter part of the nineteenth century amid the ruins of a small chantry chapel in the corner of the churchyard. The owners of the chantry disputed the possession of the cross-head with the churchwardens; and, incredible as it may seem, the dispute was settled to the satisfaction of both parties by a method which recalls the judgment of Solomon. The head of the cross being, Janus-like, of identical design on both sides, was sawn asunder down through the middle, so that each of the rival claimants received a similar sculptured ornament. One section was then erected against the wall of a chapel on the east side of the church porch at Sherburn, while the other section was built into a stable wall at a farm house called Steeton Hall. Since 1887, however, the two sundered halves, though not yet attached together as they ought to be, have been set up close to one another in Sherburn church, a puzzle to all who are unacquainted with their story. It should be added that the cross-head rises out of a richly-moulded knop, below which, though the shaft is wanting, enough remains to show that the original stem of the cross was octagonal.