OLD CROSSES
and LYCHGATES

[Frontispiece

1. NORTHAMPTON

ELEANOR CROSS

OLD CROSSES
and LYCHGATES

BY

AYMER VALLANCE

LONDON

B·T·BATSFORD, L^TD 94, HIGH HOLBORN

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT
THE DARIEN PRESS, EDINBURGH

PREFACE

The genesis of this book was an article on "Churchyard Crosses," written by request for the Burlington Magazine, and published therein in September 1918. It was at a time when the hearts of the British people were being stirred to their innermost depths, for the European War was yet raging, and the question of the most suitable form of memorials of our heroic dead, sacrificed day by day, was continually present to us. Nor, though hostilities happily ceased when the Armistice was agreed upon within a few weeks thereafter, has the subject of commemorating the fallen on that account declined in interest and importance. Nay, its claims are, if anything, more insistent than ever, for, the vital necessity of concentrating our energies on the attainment of victory having passed away, the nation is now at leisure "to pour out its mourning heart in memorials that will tell the generations to come how it realised the bitterness and glory of the years of the Great War." Such being the case, it was hoped that it might prove useful to gather together a collection of examples of old crosses and lychgates, as affording the most appropriate form of monuments for reproduction or adaptation to the needs of the present. Too many of the manifestations of modern so-called art betray its utter bankruptcy, because having broken with tradition, it has no resource left but to express itself in wayward eccentricity and ugly sensationalism, the very antitheses of the dignified beauty which the following of time-hallowed precedent alone can impart.

To obtain a sufficiently representative series there has been no occasion to go beyond the confines of England and Wales. Within those limits a very large number of types is to be found, every one of which is illustrated in the following pages. I do not pretend to have treated the subject exhaustively, but I do claim that never before has so manifold a range of crosses been depicted within the compass of a single volume; nor has so systematic an analysis and classification of the various types of crosses, tracing the course of their historic evolution, been attempted by any previous writer in the English language. My classification, based solely upon the study of anatomical form and structure, is original, and presents the subject in an entirely new aspect.

Without the generous co-operation of friends and strangers alike, my task would have been impossible. A considerable amount of material had been collected by my friend, the late Mr Herbert Batsford, and of this I have gladly availed myself. To my dear and revered friend, the late Sir William St John Hope, I, for one, am more indebted archæologically than I can find words to express. No sooner did he learn that I had undertaken this work than he remarked to me, "You must quote documents," and, by way of giving practical effect to his advice, he offered, with his wonted liberality, to place at my disposal some important notes he had made from the original accounts of the royal expenditure on the Eleanor Memorial Crosses. These notes, to my profound regret, I never received, because St John Hope, being shortly afterwards stricken with his fatal illness, had not the opportunity to look them up for me. My pages in consequence are the poorer for lack of his invaluable material. I have, however, been able to quote in full the historic description of Nevill's cross from the Rites of Durham (Surtees Society, 1902), of which St John Hope was Joint Editor.

Among my innumerable obligations I desire to record my indebtedness to the following for facilities given, and for help in divers ways:—

The authorities and assistants of the British Museum, of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and of the Guildhall Museum; the President and Council of the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Royal Institute of British Architects, the St Paul's Ecclesiological Society; the Burlington Magazine, the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, the Provost of Eton (who kindly went to Oxford expressly to examine the Jews' cross for me), Mr F. T. S. Houghton (who journeyed from Birmingham to Halesowen in order to photograph the remains of the cross-head at the latter place), and Dr F. J. Allen, of Cambridge (for photographs and much valuable information); also to Miss E. K. Prideaux, the Rev. G. C. Richards, F.S.A., the Revv. F. and F. R. P. Sumner, and C. Eveleigh Woodruff, Major C. A. Markham, and Messrs Harold Brakspear, F.S.A., G. C. Druce, F.S.A., Reginald A. Smith, F.S.A., J. H. Allchin, and H. Elgar, Maidstone Museum; Oxley Grabham and W. Watson, York Museum; H. St George Gray, Taunton Museum; Frank Woolnough, F.R.Met.S., Ipswich Museum; Richard Scriven, George Clinch, F.G.S., F.S.A.(Scot.), W. Plomer Young, P. M. C. Kermode, G. Granville Buckley, M.D., F.S.A., F. H. Crossley, F. E. Howard, Arthur Hussey, F. C. Elliston-Erwood, Robert Richmond, George H. Widdows, F.R.I.B.A., R. P. Stone, Oswald Stone, P. Bedford, Alfred Watkins; and last, but not least, my publisher, Mr Harry Batsford and his assistant, Mr A. W. Haggis, whose constant and ready co-operation has lightened many hours of laborious research in museum libraries and of industry at High Holborn.

AYMER VALLANCE.

Aymers, Lynsted,

February 1920.

CONTENTS

TOPOGRAPHICAL LIST OF SUBJECTS ILLUSTRATED

CHAPTERS I. to VII.—CROSSES
Subject.	Source.	Illus– tration No.		Page Referred to in Text.
Aldborough	Photo, Frith & Co.	[193]		[158]
Alphington	Del., J. Buckler	[199]		[161]
Ampney Crucis do. do.	Photo, Rev. F. Sumner do. Rev. F. R. P. Sumner do. F. T. S. Houghton	[97] [98] [99]		[50]
Axbridge	Gentleman's Magazine	[148]		[128]
Bakewell	Engraving by F. L. Chantrey, R.A.	[39]		[32]
Bedale	Photo, Frith & Co.	[119]		[54]
Bewcastle do. do.	do. Gibson & Sons do. do. do. do. do. do.	[3] [25] [26]		[32]
Bingley	do. Frith & Co.	[182]		[125]
Bisley	do. do.	[197]		[163]
Bishop's Lydeard	do. Dr F. J. Allen	[20]		[42], [44], [46]
Blakemere	Del., J. Buckler	[15]		[13]
Blanchland Abbey	Photo, Gibson & Sons	[44]		[41]
Bleadon	do. Dr F. J. Allen	[89]		[48]
Bonsall	do. Frith & Co.	[120]		[54]
Bristol	Engraving by S. and N. Buck, 1734	[9]		[123]
Brigstock	Photo, B.T.B.	[122]		[54]
Bungay	do. do.	[187]		[157]
Castle Combe do. do. do.	Del., J. Buckler Photo, Frith & Co. Del., W. G. Allen do. do.	[173] [174] [175] [176]		[157]
Carlton	Peart Collection, R.I.B.A.	[63]		[43]
Charlton Mackerel	Photo, Frith & Co.	[19]		[42], [44]
Charing Cross, nr. London do. do. do. do.	Engraving by Ralph Agas, 1792, Crace Collection, British Museum Crowle Pennant Collection, British Museum Crace Collection, British Museum	[135] [136] [137]		[108]
Cheadle	Photo, W. Watson	[35]		[37]
Cheapside Crosses, London do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do.	Photo, B.T.B., Guildhall Museum do. do. do. Water Colour Drawing at Society of Antiquaries, after Mural Painting at Cowdray Drawing in Pepysian Library, Cambridge Photo, G. Clinch, from Contemporary Woodcut	[130] [131] [132] [133] [134]		[102]
Cheddar	do. Frith & Co.	[165]		[146]
Cheshunt, Waltham do. do.	Vetusta Monumenta Del., J. Buckler Vetusta Monumenta	[127] [128] [129]		[95], [101]
Chester, High	Pen Drawing by Randle Holme, Harleian MSS. 2073, British Museum	[24]		[24], [158]
Chichester do. do. do.	Del., J. Coney (lent by F. H. Crossley) Photo, J. Valentine Print, Victoria and Albert Museum do. do. do.	[11] [161] [162] [163]		[137]
Child's Wickham	Photo, B.T.B.	[7]		[54]
Coventry	Dugdale's Warwickshire	[8]		[111]
Cricklade Churchyard do. Town Cross	Photo, Rev. F. R. P. Sumner do. Rev. F. Sumner	[116] [117]		[54]
Croxden	Del., J. Buckler	[88]		[47]
Crowcombe	Photochrom Co.	[118]		[46], [54]
Cumnor	Del., J. Buckler	[59]		[43]
Derwen do. do.	Photo, Aymer Vallance do. do. do. do.	[110] [111] [112]		[52]
Doncaster	Vetusta Monumenta	[191]		[158]
Dorchester	Del., J. Buckler	[65]		[44]
Doulting do. do.	Dr F. J. Allen do. do. do. do.	[74] [75] [76]		[43], [44]
Drayton	Del., J. Buckler	[54]		[46]
Dundry	do. J. K. Colling	[78]		[43]
Dunster	Photo, J. Valentine	[177]		[156]
Elstow	Peart Collection, R.I.B.A.	[194]		[158]
Eyam do.	Photo, J. Valentine do. do.	[27] [28]		[32]
Eynsham	Del., J. Buckler, 1820	[50]		[45]
Fletton do.	Print, Victoria and Albert Museum do. do. do.	[40] [41]		[37]
Geddington do.	Vetusta Monumenta Photochrom Co.	[124] [125]		[95], [96]
Glastonbury	Hearne's Antiquities	[164]		[138]
Gloucester	Vetusta Monumenta	[138]		[108]
Gosforth	Lysons' Magna Britannia	[33]		[34]
Great Malvern	Photo, Frith & Co.	[16]		[13]
do. Grimsby	Del., J. Buckler	[49]		[45]
Halesowen	Photo, F. T. S. Houghton	[82]		[47]
Hardley	Knight's Norfolk Antiquities, 1892	[18]		[13]
Headington do.	Del., J. Buckler Photo, H. Taunt	[69] [70]		[44]
Hedon	Peart Collection, R.I.B.A.	[79]		[46]
Hereford, Whitefriars do. do.	Del., J. Buckler Photochrom Co.	[72] [73]		[44]
do. Preaching Cross	Photo, Frith & Co.	[143]		[122]
Hexham	do. Gibson & Sons	[42]		[37]
Higham Ferrers	Markham's Old Crosses of Northamptonshire	[55]		[46]
Holbech	Engraving by W. Stukeley	[10]		[123]
Horsington	Del., after J. Buckler	[53]		[46]
Ipswich do. do. do.	Diary of Sir James Thornhill Photo, Frank Woolnough, F.R.Met.S. Aquatint by Geo. Frost, 1812 Photo, Frank Woolnough, F.R.Met.S.	[169] [170] [171] [172]		[152]
Irtlingborough	Markham's Old Crosses of Northamptonshire	[56]		[46]
Irton	Lysons' Magna Britannia	[32]		[34]
Iron Acton	Photo, Rev. F. Sumner	[144]		[122]
Keyingham, Yorks.	Peart Collection, R.I.B.A.	[64]		[44]
do. (from Lincolnshire)	do. do.	[80]		[47]
Lanteglos Juxta Fowey do. do.	Photo, Frith & Co. do. F. T. S. Houghton	[94] [95]		[49]
Leicester	Nichol's Leicestershire	[12]		[152]
Leighton Buzzard do.	Engraving in Lyson's Bedfordshire Del., J. Buckler	[146] [147]		[124]
Lichfield, Dean Dentons	Old Engraving, Victoria and Albert Museum	[154]		[142]
London, West Cheap	(see Cheapside, supra)
do. Charing Cross	(see Charing Cross, supra)
do. Paul's Cross do. do.	Engraved from Drawing in Pepysian Library, Cambridge Panel Painting by John Gipkyn at Society of Antiquaries	[141] [142]		[113], [120]
Lymm	Photo, Frith & Co.	[183]		[157]
Madley do.	Photo, Alfred Watkins, F.R.P.S. do. do.	[101] [102]		[51]
Maidstone	do. H. Elgar, from Drawing by E. Pretty	[167]		[146]
Malmesbury do. do.	do. Dr G. Granville Buckley, F.S.A. Old Print, Victoria and Albert Museum do. do. do.	[156] [157] [158]		[133]
Maughold, Isle of Man do. do.	Photo, J. Valentine do. Frith & Co.	[86] [87]		[46], [48]
Mawgan-in-Pyder (Lanherne House Nunnery)	Photo, J. Valentine	[38]		[37]
Mawgan-in-Pyder (Churchyard Cross) Mawgan-in-Pyder (Churchyard Cross)	Lysons' Magna Britannia Photo, Frith & Co.	[106] [107]		[50]
Mildenhall	do. B.T.B.	[13]		[154]
Milverton, Somerset	Del., J. Buckler, 1841 (per H. St. G. Gray)	[185]		[156]
Mitton do.	do. do. do. do.	[194] [195]		[161]
Mitchel Troy	do. do.	[57]		[45]
Nether Stowey	do. do. 1837 (per H. St. G. Gray)	[184]		[156]
Newmarket, Flintshire do. do.	Photo, F. T. S. Houghton do. do.	[90] [91]		[48]
Northampton, Eleanor Cross do. do.	do. H. Cooper & Son Britton's Architectural Antiquities	[1] [126]		[95], [98]
Northampton, Old Market Cross	Water Colour in British Museum (MSS. Dept.), copy of Bridges' Northamptonshire	[150]		[142]
North Petherton	Del., J. K. Colling	[77]		[42]
North Hinksey do. do.	Del., J. Buckler do. do. do. do.	[83] [84] [85]		[48]
Norwich	Blomfield's Antiquities of Norfolk (T. Sheldrake)	[153]		[138]
Nottingham	Stretton MSS.	[186]		[157]
Oakham do.	Photo, B.T.B. do. do.	[178] [179]		[156]
Ombersley do. do.	do. Frith & Co. Instrumenta Ecclesiastica do. do.	[66] [67] [68]		[44]
Oundle	Markham's Old Crosses of Northamptonshire	[168]		[156]
Oxford, Jews' Cross do. do. do. do.	Photo, B.T.B. do. do.	[21] [22] [23]		[19]
Paul's Cross, London	(see London, Paul's Cross, supra)
Pocklington do.	Old Print, Victoria and Albert Museum do. do.	[114] [115]		[50], [54]
Poulton-le-Fylde	Photo, Sir B. Stone	[6]		[24]
Raglan	Del., J. Buckler	[71]		[44]
Raunds	Markham's Old Crosses of Northamptonshire	[45]		[42]
Repton	Photo, Photochrom Co.	[123]		[54]
Ripley	do. Aymer Vallance	[196]		[162]
Rocester do.	Del., J. Buckler, 1832 do. do.	[47] [48]		[45]
Rothersthorp	Markham's Old Crosses of Northamptonshire	[46]		[47]
Salisbury do.	Del., J. C. Buckler Photo, Photochrom Co.	[159] [160]		[137]
Sandbach do. do.	Dr Ormerod's Cheshire do. do. J. Valentine & Co.	[29] [30] [31]		[32]
Shepton Mallet do.	Photo, Dr F. J. Allen Gentleman's Magazine, 1781	[151] [152]		[128]
Sherburn-in-Elmet	G. B. Bulmer, Architectural Studies in Yorkshire, 1887	[113]		[46], [53]
Somersby	Instrumenta Ecclesiastica	[81]		[47]
Somerton	Photo, Frith & Co.	[166]		[146]
St Columb Major	do. do.	[37]		[37]
St Ives, Cornwall	do. do.	[96]		[50]
St Michael's Mount do.	Del., J. Buckler do. do.	[104] [105]		[52]
St Donats do.	Photo, Aymer Vallance Del., J. Buckler	[108] [109]		[46], [52]
Stalbridge	Photo, R. Wilkinson	[58]		[43], [44], [46]
Stanway	Del., J. Buckler	[60]		[43]
Steeple Ashton	do. do.	[121]		[54]
Stevington	Peart Collection, R.I.B.A.	[17]		[43]
Stringston, Somersetshire	Architectural Association Sketch Book	[5]		[43]
Swaffham	Photo, B.T.B.	[188]		[157]
Taunton	Drawing in British Museum, King's Collection	[155]		[142]
Thatcham	Del., J. Buckler	[61]		[43]
Tottenham do.	Old Engraving, 1788 do. Victoria and Albert Museum	[139] [140]		[111]
Tyberton do.	Photo, Alfred Watkins, F.R.P.S. do. do.	[100] [103]		[51]
Wakefield	Del., J. Buckler	[190]		[157]
Waltham Cross, Cheshunt	(see Cheshunt, supra)
Waterperry, Oxfordshire	Del., J. Buckler	[4]		[43]
Whalley	Photo, Gibson & Sons	[34]		[37]
Wells	Sime's Map of Wells, British Museum, King's Collection	[149]		[125]
Wheston, Tideswell do. do.	Engraving by F. L. Chantrey, R.A. Photo, F. Chapman	[92] [93]		[49]
Whitford	do. W. Marriot Dodson	[36]		[35]
Wicken	Del., J. Buckler	[62]		[43], [44]
Winchester	do. do.	[145]		[124]
Witney	Photo, Henry Taunt	[14]		[156]
Wolverhampton, Dane's Cross	Old Print, Victoria and Albert Museum	[2]		[37]
Wonford, St Loye's	Del., Miss E. K. Prideaux	[198]		[161]
Woodstock	Paul Sandby, 1777, The Antiquarian Repertory	[189]		[157]
Wooler	Scott's Border Antiquities	[43]		[37]
Wymondham do.	Photo, B.T.B. do. do.	[180] [181]		[156]
Yarnton do.	Del., J. Buckler, 1821 do. do.	[51] [52]		[44], [45]
CHAPTER VIII.—LYCHGATES
Anstey	Del., J. Buckler	[210]		[167]
Ashwell do. do. do.	B.T.B. do. do.	[215] [216] [217] [218]		[165], [167]
Beckenham do. do.	Album at R.I.B.A. Del., J. Buckler Spring Gardens' Sketch Book	[205] [206] [207]		[165], [166]
Boughton, Monchelsea	Del., J. Buckler	[231]		[168]
Bray do.	Photo, Aymer Vallance Peart Collection, R.I.B.A.	[202] [203]		[164]
Chalfont, St Giles	Photo	[204]		[164]
Chiddingfold	do. W. Plomer Young	[227]		[164]
Clodock	Del., J. Buckler	[228]		[167]
Clun	Photo, F. H Crossley	[235]		[164]
Goring	do. Henry Taunt	[226]		[165]
Hartfield	F. Frith & Co.	[201]		[164]
Hayes	Mills' History of the Parish of Hayes	[200]		[164], [165]
Heston do.	J. Drayton Wyatt, Anastatic Drawing Society Spring Gardens' Sketch Book	[213] [214]		[164], [165]
Isleham do. do.	Drawing after J. Buckler do. do. do. do.	[223] [224] [225]		[167]
Lenham do. do.	Photo, Aymer Vallance Spring Gardens' Sketch Book do. do.	[220] [221] [222]		[165], [167]
Llandrillo-yn-Rhos	Photo, F. Frith & Co.	[233]		[168]
Llanfillo	do. P. Bedford	[229]		[167]
Morwenstow	A. P. S. Dictionary	[219]		[165]
Monnington-on-Wye	Photo	[237]		[167]
Pattingham	Shaw's History of Staffordshire	[234]		[167]
Pulborough	Source unknown	[236]		[167]
Rustington	Del., J. Buckler	[230]		[168]
Staple do.	Instrumenta Ecclesiastica do. do.	[208] [209]		[166]
Tal-y Llyn	Photo, Sir B. Stone	[232]		[168]
West Wickham do.	Thomas Garratt, Transactions of St Paul's Ecclesiological Society, Vol. II. Spring Gardens' Sketch Book	[211] [212]		[167]

ADDENDUM.

Page 9, line 11 from the bottom, after "extant" add:—

One example, removed from its site, is in existence. In the collection of the Kent Archæological Society at the Museum at Maidstone is a much mutilated head of a churchyard cross found at West Malling. The work, very rude and uncouth, appears to be of the fourteenth century. On one side is a crucifixion, unattended, and on one end a single figure, which may possibly represent St. John Baptist.

OLD CROSSES AND
LYCHGATES

I. INTRODUCTION

IN pursuance of the Christian policy of instituting an innocent practice to take the place of each of the old, vicious customs of heathendom—the substitution of the festival of Christmas for the former orgies of the Saturnalia is perhaps the best known instance in point—the Emperor Constantine (324 to 337 A.D.) caused crosses to be erected along the public ways at various points where previously had been situated terminal statues. Thence are believed to have originated the shrines and crucifixes, conspicuous by the roadside at the entrance of towns and villages in the Catholic countries of the Continent. Nor throughout the Middle Ages, until the sixteenth century, when the English people were torn from the unity of the unreformed faith, was our own country behind any other in its pious observance of the ancient traditional usage. The reason thereof is explained by a passage in Dives et Pauper, a popular treatise on the Ten Commandments, which was printed by Wynken de Worde at Westminster in 1496. The purpose of the erection of standing crosses is therein expounded as follows:—"For this reason ben Crosses by ye waye, that whan folke passynge see the Crosse, they sholde thynke on Hym that deyed on the Crosse, and worshypp Hym above all thynge."

2. WOLVERHAMPTON

DANES' CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD
MONOLITH TYPE

3. BEWCASTLE, CUMBERLAND

MONOLITH TYPE

4. WATER PERRY, OXFORDSHIRE

5. STRINGSTON, SOMERSETSHIRE

CHURCHYARD CROSS, WITH PLAN

SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE

6. POULTON-LE-FYLDE, LANCASHIRE

MARKET CROSS. SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE

The process of the evolution of the standing cross may be traced through certain well-defined stages. Its most rudimentary form is that of the menhir, a vertical monolith rising direct from the ground (Figs. [2] and [3]); next, the shaft is raised on steps, and becomes a tapering stem, while its head grows on either side into the arms of a cross (Fig. [16]), or expands into a lantern-like ornament, quadrangular or polygonal on plan, enriched with sculptured figures and tabernacle work (Figs. [4] and [5]). The shaft-on-steps persisted to the last as the favourite type for churchyard crosses, notwithstanding the introduction of other varieties. The cross gained greater dignity by being mounted on an enlarged socket or foot, interposed between the shaft itself and the steps underneath. Thirdly, the shaft takes the form of a pinnacle or spire, generally of diminishing tiers or storeys, the whole crowned with a small cross or finial. To this type the important group of Eleanor crosses belongs (Figs. [1] and [8]). Hitherto the cross had been simply spectacular and monumental. It next developed in a utilitarian direction, and became a preaching cross (Figs. [9] and [10]), its lowest storey, formerly closed and solid, being opened out and made to consist of a ring of standards (with or without a shaft in the middle), to carry the soaring superstructure. The last type, the market cross (Figs. [11], [12], [13], and [14]), may be regarded as an expansion of the preaching cross, the latter being intended to shelter but one occupant, or at any rate only a very small number, whereas the market cross is designed to shelter many persons. In the fully matured market cross the whole structure is one organism, planned as such from the outset; but there are, on the other hand, some obvious instances of adaptation, where the encircling umbrella is, as it were, an after-thought, having been built up to and about a previously existing cross of the shaft-on-steps type. In either case, however, the result ultimately obtained is identical. A number of handsome market crosses, principally belonging to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, were constructed of timber framing, with stone, slate, or tiled roofs. The latest development was the introduction of an upper chamber above the open ground-floor stage. But when, later still, the circular or polygonal plan was abandoned for an oblong plan in order to provide the utmost accommodation in the upper chamber, all recognisable resemblance to the structure in the form of its origin was lost; in a word, the market cross had become extinct, and had given place instead to the market house or hall.

7. CHILD'S WICKHAM, GLOUCESTERSHIRE

VILLAGE CROSS. SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE

8. COVENTRY, WARWICKSHIRE

ELEANOR CROSS TYPE

9. BRISTOL

PREACHING CROSS TYPE

10. HOLBECH, LINCOLNSHIRE

PREACHING CROSS TYPE

It may be assumed that, for the sake of durability, stone would be the most usual material to choose for the construction of standing crosses. But there were exceptions, as a memorable incident in the career of Jeanne d'Arc is sufficient to show. The authority is a letter from two of Jeanne's contemporaries, Jean and André de Laval, grandsons of the famous Bertrand de Guesclin. The scene was Selles; the date 6th June 1428. On that occasion, the maid's horse, a fine black charger, being brought to the door of her lodging, proved so restive that he could not be controlled. "Lead him to the Cross," said Jeanne. And there he stood as quietly as though he had been bound, while she mounted. The cross was a wrought-iron one, and was situated about fifteen paces from the north door of the church. An historical memorial, this cross might have been standing yet, had not the surrounding cemetery been cleared and levelled to make a site for a market place.

Again, standing crosses might be made of wood. Thus, Joan Wither bequeathed a sum in 1511 for the restoration of the wooden cross in the hamlet of Reding, in Eboney, Kent; and John Netheway, of Taunton, Somerset, whose will is dated 4th August 1503, directed his executors to "make a new crosse of tree in the churchyard of St Mary Magdalyn, nigh the procession-way"; a provision which is interesting from another point of view, viz., that it unmistakably connects the churchyard cross with outdoor processions.

11. CHICHESTER

THE MARKET CROSS

12. LEICESTER

MARKET CROSS, WITH PLAN

A phenomenon in regard to churchyard crosses at the present day is the inequality of their distribution, which, however, must not be taken as a criterion of their number and situation in former times. Indeed, their existence was very general; and the fact of their preservation or destruction depends on local conditions. Some counties, like Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, and Northamptonshire, for example, contain numbers, while other counties contain scarcely any at all. Thus, Charles Fowler, F.R.I.B.A., writing in 1896 concerning the Diocese of Llandaff, which comprises Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire, says: "In nearly every churchyard there are remains of a cross of some kind. These crosses were placed midway between the enclosure entrance and south porch, to the east of the principal path.... Many of the steps and bases of these crosses are to be found in the diocese, but the tops have mostly all disappeared; also very many of the shafts." On the other hand, in Hertfordshire there are but two specimens, both incomplete; and again, in Kent, with the exception of the ancient bases in Folkestone and Teynham churchyards, there is not another example extant. And yet numbers and numbers of Kentish churchyard crosses are positively known, through mention of them in wills, to have been standing in the Middle Ages.

In churchyard crosses a certain feature, occurring more particularly in the southwestern district of England, has proved somewhat of a puzzle to archæologists, to wit, the presence of a little niche or recess (Figs. [15] and [16]), sunk in the side of the socket or, more rarely, in the lower part of the shaft. Instances have been noted at Wonastow and Raglan, in Monmouthshire; Lydney and Newland, in Gloucestershire; Blackmere, Brampton Abbots, Colwell, Kingdon, St Weonards, Whitchurch, and Wigmore, in Herefordshire; and at Broadway and Great Malvern, in Worcestershire. At the last named (Fig. [16]) the niche is hollowed out in the shaft itself. It has been supposed that the purpose of the niche was to contain a light; but a much more probable suggestion, of the late Sir William St John Hope's, is that the niche was designed as a receptacle for the pyx, enclosing the Sacred Host, in the course of the Palm Sunday procession.

13. MILDENHALL, SUFFOLK

MARKET CROSS

14. WITNEY, OXFORDSHIRE

MARKET CROSS

15. BLAKEMERE, HEREFORDSHIRE

SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE, WITH NICHE

16. GREAT MALVERN, WORCESTERSHIRE

CROSS, WITH NICHE, IN THE PRIORY CHURCHYARD

17. STEVINGTON, BEDFORDSHIRE

SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE

There can be no doubt that, whatever else their uses, churchyard crosses in mediæval England figured prominently in the ceremonial of Palm Sunday. So indispensable, indeed, did they become for this purpose, that it may be taken for granted that no parish was without one, at any rate of wood, if not of stone. In the Constitutions, issued in 1229 by William de Bleys, Bishop of Worcester, he ordered that there should be, in every churchyard of his diocese, "crux decens et honesta, vel in cimiterio erecta, ad quam fiet processio ipso die Palmarum, nisi in alio loco consuevit fieri."

At Hardley, in Norfolk, Henry Bunn, by will dated 1501, directed that a cross should be set up in the churchyard for the offering of boughs on Palm Sunday. It would be interesting if the above named could be identified with the cross now standing (Fig. [18]). The latter, however, is not only of later date, but is not a churchyard cross at all, being a secular landmark, dating from 1543. In that year, it is recorded, a new cross was made, sculptured with the crucifixion on one side, and the arms of the city of Norwich on the other; and being painted, was conveyed to Hardley and erected there, "where the Sheriffs of Norwich yearly do keep a court." The "place," says Francis Blomefield, "was the extent of the liberties of the city on the River Wensum."

But, to resume, so intimately was the churchyard cross associated with the Palm Sunday solemnities, that the former is very commonly referred to in documents as the "Palm Cross." As such the churchyard cross at Bishop's Stortford is mentioned in the parish accounts for the year 1525—the same cross which was ultimately demolished in 1643. The Palm Cross is so named in the parish accounts of Morebath, Devonshire, as late as the year 1572-73. For the rest, it is enough to cite a number of Kentish wills, in which the churchyard cross is specifically named the Palm Cross, viz.—at Addington in 1528; Ashford in 1469; Bidborough in 1524; Boughton-under-Blean in 1559; Boxley in 1476 and 1524; Eboney; Erith in 1544; Faversham in 1508, 1510, and 1521; Hastingleigh in 1528; Lenham in 1471 (as having then been newly erected); Lyminge in 1508; Lynsted; Margate in 1521; Preston-by-Faversham in 1525; Reculver in 1541; Old Romney in 1484; St Peter's, Sandwich, in 1536; Southfleet in 1478; Strood in 1482; Wittersham in 1497; and Woolwich in 1499 and 1515.

In some cases the shaft of the churchyard cross is drilled with holes sloping downward. An instance of this is to be found at Tredington, in Gloucestershire. Charles Pooley thinks that these holes were for the affixing of some such object as a scutcheon or a figure. That the suggestion is not unfeasible is shown by the will of Alice Findred, widow, who in 1528 left £2 "for making of a stone cross, called a Palm Cross, with a picture of the Passion of Christ of copper and gilt ... to be set upon the head of the burial" of her husband and children in the churchyard of Hastingleigh, Kent. But there is an alternative explanation of the drilled holes, viz., that they were meant to hold the stems of flowers or branches for adorning the cross on certain occasions, e.g., Palm Sunday, or at the old Lancashire ceremony of "flowering," on St John Baptist's Day, 24th June. According to the eminent ecclesiologist, Dr Daniel Rock, in The Church of our Fathers, it was at the churchyard cross that the outdoor procession of palms, having wended its way thither, would always halt, and, the cross itself being wreathed and decked with flowers and branches, the Blessed Sacrament, solemnly borne in procession, was temporarily deposited before it upon some suitable throne, while the second station was being made. This done, the procession reformed and proceeded to the principal door for the third station, before passing again within the church.

18. HARDLEY, NORFOLK

BOUNDARY CROSS

A certain peculiarity, occasionally to be found in churchyard crosses, is the scooping out of a cavity or cavities in the base or steps—cavities resembling nothing so much as the hollows in the beheading block at the Tower of London. An instance of this feature, believed to have been designed as a receptacle for offerings, occurs in the churchyard cross at Bishop's Lydeard (Fig. [20]) in the second step from the lowest one. Possibly the basin-like cavities, which here and there occur in village and roadside crosses, may have been meant to hold water or vinegar, to disinfect the coins paid for food in times of plague, as mentioned below (page [22]).

A curious post-Reformation use for churchyard crosses is referred to by Miss Curtis in Antiquities of Laugharne and Pendine, 1871. The passages are quoted for what they may be worth. At Eglwyscummin, Carmarthenshire, "there is a cross in the churchyard to which wolves' heads were attached.... In ancient times, when it was a necessity to exterminate certain animals, as foxes, wolves, etc., a reward was given to those who captured these animals, and it was usual to attach their heads to the cross in the churchyard for the purpose of valuing them. Generally, the heads remained on the cross for three church services, and after that the reward was given. For a wolf's head the same sum was awarded, as was given for the capture of the greatest robber; for (dog) foxes, 2s. 6d., and (vixens) 1s. 6d. In the register of Laugharne church is an account of the sums given for the different animals." Again, both at Llansandurnen and at Marrôs, in the churchyard, is "a part of the ancient cross ... to which wolves' heads, etc., were attached. It is but a few years ago that a farmer in Marrôs hung foxes' heads on it. In the churchyard of Amroth (Pembrokeshire) is a cross to which they used to attach wolves' heads, etc."

The iconoclastic movement seems to have begun earlier than is commonly imagined. In 1531 or 1532, according to John Foxe in his Actes and Monuments, "there were many images cast down and destroyed in many places, as the image of the crucifix in the highway by Coggeshall (Essex). Also John Seward, of Dedham, overthrew a cross in Stoke Park."

The spirit of sacrilege and profanity having been aroused, many gross excesses were committed by fanatical persons. Thus one Simon Kent writes on 27th May 1549, to inform the Bishop of Lincoln that a young man had nailed up a dead cat on the market cross at St Ives, Huntingdonshire.

At South Littleton, Worcestershire, the "staff and head" of the cross in the churchyard were disposed of by the churchwardens in 1552. In another Worcestershire parish, on the contrary, that of Badsey, the churchwardens in 1557 expended 7s. on the churchyard cross.

At Winchester, Bishop Horne, an inveterate innovator, in the injunctions which he drew up for his cathedral church in 1571, ordered "the stone cross in the churchyard" to be "extinguished".

At Prestbury, Cheshire, the churchwardens' accounts for 1576 to 1580 record the price paid "for cuttynge (down) the crosse in the churcheyard, and the chargs of one with a certyficat thereof to Manchester" (whence, presumably, the order for the demolition came), and also the amount (14s.) received for the sale of "iron which was aboute" the same cross. This would perhaps refer to the railing for protection, required no longer when once the cross itself had disappeared.

On the other hand, according to Thomas Fuller's Church History of Britain, Abbot Feckenham built a cross at Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, during the period of his imprisonment in Wisbech Castle, i.e., from June 1580 to his death in 1585. At Fyfield, Berkshire, at the expense of William Upton, a churchyard cross was erected as late as 1627.

Thus individual cases of destruction (as also of repair and reconstruction) no doubt occurred from time to time; but if any particular locality was denuded, it would have been due to the prejudice and bigotry of some individual bishop, archdeacon, or churchwarden, rather than to any systematic iconoclasm authorised by the central government. On 28th August 1643, however, the Puritan party having virtually gained the ascendancy in the kingdom, an Act was passed in Parliament, entitled "Monuments of Superstition or Idolatry to be demolished." This ordinance provides that "all crosses upon all and every ... churches or chappels, or other places of publique prayer, churchyards, or other places to any of the said churches ... belonging, or in any other open place, shall, before the ... first day of November (1643), be taken away and defaced, and none of the like hereafter permitted in any such church ... or other places aforesaid." Local committees were constituted for carrying out the orders of Parliament. Seven eastern counties were entrusted for purgation to the Earl of Manchester, who appointed, as Parliamentary visitor under him, the notorious William Dowsing. This person, though unsurpassed in vandalism, has yet been maligned so far as churchyard crosses are concerned. In 1643 and 1644 he visited, in person or by deputy, 149 churches in Suffolk, keeping a minute record of each day's proceedings; but, strange to say, among all the quantity of objects defaced, his Journal does not specify one single instance of a churchyard cross having been injured or destroyed by him.

In some cases the official despoilers met with popular opposition. Thus Richard Baxter relates how, in obedience to the order sent by the Parliament for the demolition of all images of the Holy Trinity and of the Virgin Mary to be found in churches or on the crosses of churchyards, the churchwarden of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, determined to destroy the crucifix upon the churchyard cross there, and accordingly set up a ladder to have reached it. But the ladder proved too short, and whilst he (the churchwarden) was gone to seek another, a crowd of the opposition "party of the town, poor journeymen and servants, took the alarm, and ran together with weapons to defend the crucifix"; and even purposed to wreak their vengeance upon Baxter himself, supposing him to be the prime instigator of the iconoclasm.

Numbers of places, and they not necessarily of first rank nor of special size, possessed more crosses than one. For instance, Liverpool, in the Middle Ages but an insignificant village, as compared with its present extent and importance, had its High Cross, White Cross, Red Cross, Town-End Cross, and St Patrick's Cross—five in all.

At Brackley, in Northamptonshire, "there were," writes Leland, circa 1535 to 1545, "three goodly crosses of stone in the town, one by south at the end of the town, thrown down a late by thieves that sought for treasure; another at the west end of St James' Church; the third very antique, fair, and costly, in the inward part of the High Street. There be divers tabernacles in this, with ladies and men armed. Some say that the staplers of the town made this; but I think rather some nobleman, lord of the town."

19. CHARLTON MACKEREL, SOMERSETSHIRE

CHURCHYARD CROSS

20. BISHOP'S LYDEARD, SOMERSETSHIRE

CHURCHYARD CROSS, WITH RECEPTACLE FOR OFFERINGS

At Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, there were six crosses, viz., the churchyard cross (taken down in 1643); the potter's cross, in the middle of the town, and one in each of the four roads leading therefrom. The respective names of these were Collin's Cross, Crab Cross, Wayte Cross, and Maple Cross.

Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire, had two crosses standing respectively at the two principal entrances to the town. In 1584 the "stock stone" at Thorpe Cross was sold for 2s. 2d. to John Wythers, who, as part of the bargain, had to undertake to plant an ash, or a thorn tree, in place of it. In the same year, 1584, the "stock stone at Kettelby Cross, with one stone standing," was sold to William Trigg for 5s., the purchaser undertaking, as in the last named case, to plant a tree to mark the site.

In addition to the principal cross—the High Cross—of Chester, there was one near St Michael's church. Another cross stood at Barrs, one at Northgate, and another at Spittal Boughton. All three were pulled down in 1583 by order of Archbishop Sandys' visitors. A contributor to the Gentleman's Magazine, in 1807, says: "The only remains of any cross at this time," in or near Chester, "is upon the Roode, where races are run." The said meadow, otherwise Roodee, or Roodeye, is situated by the River Dee, not far west of Chester. In former days, down to about 1587, this meadow used to be submerged at high tide, all except one little island, upon which stood an ancient cross of such venerable repute, as an object of pilgrimage, as to give its name to the isle itself. This cross is identical with "the swete rode of Chester," referred to in the ribald verses, entitled "The Fantasie of Idolatrie" printed under the date 1540 in Foxe's Actes and Monuments. When Dr George Ormerod wrote his Chester (finished in 1819), the base of this cross, he said, "is, or was lately remaining, and was a few years since replaced."

In and around London, besides the well-known crosses of St Paul's, Cheap, and Charing, there were at one time and another three more crosses which may be mentioned. One, called Le Broken Cross, was erected by the Earl of Gloucester in the reign of Henry III. (1216 to 1272), but it did not stand very long. Its site is said to have been the "place of the meeting of the Folkmote ... near St Martin's-le-Grand, about midway between the Northgate of the precinct (of St Paul's) and the church of St Vedast." On 5th September 1379 agreements were drawn up for letting the stations about the Broken Cross to five divers persons. The cross was bodily taken down in 1390. Another was the Cow Cross at Smithfield, a monument referred to by Stow as no longer standing when he wrote. Another instance was the Strand Cross, near Covent Garden. This cross was hexagonal on plan, and comprised four stages. It was standing in 1547, but was ultimately removed, its site being occupied by the Maypole, which was spoken of in 1700 as new.

21, 22, 23. OXFORD

SOCKET OF JEWS' CROSS, PRESERVED IN ST FRIDESWIDE'S CHURCH

At Oxford there were at least two crosses, viz., the Jews' cross (Figs. [21-23]), and also a noted wayside cross, which the city records show to have been in existence in 1331. It stood without the east gate of the city, in front of the door of St John's Hospital, on or near the site of the present entrance to Magdalen College. As to the monument called the Jews' cross, its origin is historic. In 1268, on Ascension Day, "as the usual procession of scholars and citizens returned from St Frideswide's," and was passing the Jewish synagogue in Fish Street (now St Aldate's), "a Jew suddenly burst from the group of his friends ... and, snatching the crucifix from its bearer, trod it underfoot." Part of the penalty exacted by the Crown was that the Jews of Oxford had to erect, at their own cost, a cross of marble on the spot where the outrage had been committed. The sentence, however, was eventually modified to the extent that, instead of having to endure a perpetual reminder of their humiliation and punishment opposite to the very door of the synagogue, the Jews were allowed to set up the expiatory cross in a less obnoxious position, an open plot by Merton College. Such is the site where it used to be believed that the cross stood. But a certain passage in the city records seems, as the late Herbert Hurst pointed out, to contradict any previously received identification of the site of the Jews' cross, and to locate it rather on some spot near the north side of St Frideswide's church. The passage in question is as follows: "In 1342, Adam Blaket was indicted before John Fitz Perys and William le Iremonger, bailiffs of Oxford, for that he, on the Thursday next before Palm Sunday, feloniously entered by night the enclosure of the cemetery of the Church of St Frideswyde, and there stole and carried off one arm," or other portion (vana) "of the great (capitalis) cross of the cemetery, of the value of half a mark, and afterwards broke it into four parts." The purloined fragments were subsequently "found and seized. He (Blaket) confessed to the taking, and pleaded that he was at the time a lunatic and not compos mentis."

Anyhow, if the precise site remains uncertain, there is extant a sculptured socket, which, though it is only of stone, not marble, Mr Hurst pronounced to be "an undoubted part" of the original Jews' cross. This socket was described by Dr James Ingram in 1837 as having been then "recently discovered, on the removal of a quantity of rubbish from the foundation of the walls" of St Frideswide's, embedded in the base of the diagonal buttress at the south-east angle of St Lucy's chapel in the south transept. It is now preserved in the gallery at the south end of the same transept. The four sides are sculptured with what appear to be Old Testament subjects, although only two are now identifiable. The first is the temptation of Adam and Eve, with the serpent coiling round a tree between them; and the second is the sacrifice of Isaac. The third appears to be the sacrifice of an ox or calf; but the whole is much mutilated. Nothing remains of it but the lower part of a human being on the left, and the headless body of a cloven-footed quadruped, the forelegs of which are in a kneeling posture. Above, a hand, issuing from a cloud, lets down a pair of small tablets, or an open book. The subject of the fourth side is a puzzle which has hitherto defied elucidation. It represents three figures, the middle one seated between two upright figures turning away, both having grotesque heads like apes. Below the right foot of one of the figures is what appears to be a dragon or demon, with its leg on the ground. At each angle of the stone is a winged dragon, head downward, the tail terminating in characteristic thirteenth-century foliage. The stone is 1 ft. 11 in. high, by 2 ft. 3 in. square at the bottom, decreasing to 1 ft. 9 in. square at the top. The greatest dimension, inclusive of the figures, is 2 ft. 6 in. in width.

It goes without saying that, so long as the land of Britain continued to be open, i.e., not subdivided by enclosures—a process which dates back no earlier than the fifteenth century—boundary stones for defining the limits of contiguous parishes, as also of the properties of individuals, assumed much greater importance than would be attached to such marks in later times, after hedges had grown up and fences come into use. The ancient boundary mark might sometimes be a plain post or pillar, or it might take the form of a cross. The latter practice is illustrated by the will of one John Cole, of Thelnetham, Suffolk, dated 8th May 1527. The testator leaves 10s. for erecting a new cross at the spot "at Short Grove's End, where the gospel is said upon Ascension even," and, moreover, expressly directs that this new cross is to be made on the model of one already standing, named "Trapett Crosse at the Hawe Lane's End." The will further provides for an income, arising from certain landed estates, sufficient to yield annually a bushel and a half of malt "to be browne," and a bushel of wheat to be baked, "to fynde a drinking" on the said day in perpetuity, for the parishioners of Thelnetham "to drink at the crosse aforenamed." Here, then, is an instance of a boundary cross explicitly designed for the observances of the Rogation, or gang days.

But later on in the sixteenth century, the old order of things was reversed, and the authorities proceeded to stamp out the former time-honoured usages, one after another. Thus Bishop Parkhurst's Injunctions for the diocese of Norwich in 1569, Grindal's for the province of York in 1571, and Sandys' Articles for the diocese of London in the same year, alike prohibited the popish ceremony of "staying at any crosses" during the perambulation of parish bounds on Rogation days.

Other ancient customs connected with standing crosses are illustrated by the terms in which prelates of the reformed Church condemn them. Thus, Bishop Bentham's Injunctions for the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield in 1565 forbid bearers to set "down the corpse of any dead body by any cross by the way, as they bring it to the burial"; and again, later, Archbishop Grindal's Injunctions for the Province of York in 1571 order that none shall "rest at any cross in carrying any corpse to burying, nor shall leave any little crosses of wood there." In 1585 the Bishop of St David's issued an Injunction to his diocese, among the directions whereof, under the head of "Burial," it is ordered: "First, that there be no crosses of wood made and erected where they use to rest with the corpse; and especially that no wooden crosses be set upon the cross in the churchyard." These strenuous prohibitions only prove that the custom of placing wooden crosses for the dead upon wayside or churchyard crosses must have prevailed in ancient days, and was still tenaciously observed by the people in spite of the drastic change of religion. It may possibly be that the holes, sometimes found drilled in churchyard crosses, were provided, among other purposes, for holding the pegs on which the small wooden memorial crosses could be suspended.

Crosses, again, were employed to define, in any given locality, the extent of the right of sanctuary, that powerful safeguard of the age of faith and charity against summary vengeance and injustice. Thus, at Ripon inviolable security was assured within the radius of about a mile around the shrine of St Wilfrid; and accordingly a stone cross was placed close by the edge of each of the five roads leading to the city, to mark the sanctuary bounds. Of these five crosses; the only one whereof any appreciable remnant survives, is that of Sharow. It consists of a massive stone step, with the broken stump of the old shaft.

At Wansford, in Northamptonshire, the River Nene is crossed by a fourteenth-century stone bridge; and there, embedded in the ground, in one of the refuges, formed by the triangular space on the top of a cutwater, may be seen the socket of an ancient wayside cross. The upper bed of the stone is barely above the level of the roadway, but its rectangular outline, with the round mortice-hole in the centre, is plain and unmistakable. There seems no reason to doubt that this singularly interesting relic stands in situ, and the cross must thus have borne as direct a relationship to the bridge, as a bridge chapel would have done.

Near the road leading to the north entrance of Ravenshelm (now Ravensworth) Castle, County Durham, is an old cross, known as the "Butter Cross." The story is told of this, as of many other crosses and landmarks, that the country people used to leave their produce here for the citizens of Newcastle to fetch at the time when the town was stricken by the plague in the sixteenth century. The structure consists of two steps, a massive socket, and a lofty shaft, surmounted by a "four-hole" cross.

Halfway between York and the village of Fulford are the remains of a mediæval cross, at which, during the plague in 1665, the country folk used to leave food, to be fetched by the citizens, so avoiding the risk of contagion. This cross served in the same way again, as late as the year 1833, during the cholera epidemic.

24. CHESTER

HIGH CROSS

Historically important as having been erected to commemorate the battle between English and Scots, and the defeat of the latter, on 17th October 1346, Nevill's Cross has an added interest, inasmuch as a very full and graphic description of it has been preserved from the pen of one who was evidently well acquainted with the monument. In fact he had been, previously to the Dissolution, a monk in the great Benedictine community at Durham. The following is his account, extracted from the Rites of Durham, which he wrote in 1593: "On the west side of the city of Durham there was a most notable, famous, and goodly large cross of stone work, erected and set up to the honour of God and for the victory had thereof, shortly after the battle of Durham, in the same place where the battle was fought, called and known by the name of Nevill's cross, which was set up at the cost and charges of the Lord Ralph Nevill, being one of the most excellent and chief in the said battle and field. Which cross had seven steps about it every way, four squared to the socket that the stalk of the cross did stand in, which socket was made fast to a four-squared broad stone, being the sole or bottom stone of a large thickness that the socket did stand upon, which is a yard and a half square about every way, which stone was one of the steps and the eighth in number. Also the said socket was made fast with iron and lead to the sole stone in every side of the corner of the said socket stone, which was three-quarters deep, and a yard and a quarter square about every way. And the stalk of the cross going upward contained in length three yards and a half up to the boss, being eight square about (octagonal), all of one whole piece of stone, from the socket that it did stand in to the boss above, into the which boss the said stalk was deeply soldered with lead and solder. And in the midst of the stalk, in every second square, was the Nevill cross (saltire) in a scutcheon, being the Lord Nevill's arms, finely cut out and wrought in the said stalk of stone. Also the nether end of the stalk was soldered deep in the hole of the socket that it did stand in, with lead and solder, and at every of the four corners of the said socket below was one of the pictures of the four Evangelists, being Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, very finely set forth and carved in stonemason work. And on the height of the said stalk did stand a most large, fine boss of stone, being eight square round about, finely cut out and bordered and marvellous curiously wrought. And in every square of the nether side of the boss in the masonwork was the Nevill's cross in a scutcheon in one square, and the bull's head, having no scutcheon, in another square; and so contained in every square after the same sort round about the boss. And on the height of the said boss, having a stalk of stone, being a cross standing a little higher than the rest, which was soldered deeply with lead and solder into the hole of the said boss above; whereon was finely cut out and pictured on both sides of the stalk of the said cross the picture of our Saviour Christ, crucified with His arms stretched abroad, His hands nailed to the cross, and His feet being nailed upon the stalk of the said cross below, about a quarter of a yard from above the boss, with the picture of our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the one side of Him, and the picture of St John the Evangelist on the other side, most pitifully lamenting and beholding His torments and cruel death, standing both on the height of the said boss. All which pictures were very artificially and curiously wrought altogether, and finely carved out of one whole entire stone, some part thereof (being) through carved work, both on the east side and the west side of the said cross, with a cover of stone likewise over their head, being all most finely and curiously wrought together out of the said whole stone, which cover of stone was covered all over very finely with lead. And also, in token and remembrance of the said battle of Durham, and to the perpetual memory and honour of the Lord Nevill and his posterity for ever, it was termed by the title and name of Nevill's Cross; which so did there stand and remain, most notorious to all passengers, till of late, in the year of our Lord God 1589, in the night time, the same was broken down and defaced by some lewd and contemptuous wicked persons, thereunto encouraged, as it seemeth, by some who love Christ the worse for the cross' sake, as utterly and spitefully despising all ancient ceremonies and monuments." On the above vivid description of Nevill's Cross no comment is required; but it may not be amiss to append the note by the editors of the reissue by the Surtees Society in 1903: "The socket is all that remains ... The usual symbols of the four Evangelists are still to be seen on the four corners," presumably beneath the places where the statues themselves formerly stood, round about the shaft. The socket "has recently been removed to a new mound some yards distant from the old site. An old milestone stands where the stalk has been. Dr Raine (St Cuthbert) states that documents in the Treasury refer to an earlier Nevill's Cross in the same place; but he gives no references."

Six and a half miles south of Durham, in the modern village of Ferry Hill, is the fragment of an old stone cross, named Cleve's Cross. This monument, according to tradition, commemorates the valour of one, Roger de Ferry, who slew a monster wild boar, which had been the terror of the whole countryside.

At Wigan, Lancashire, are the rude remains of an ancient stone cross, concerning which the following tradition is told. While Sir William Bradshaigh was engaged in the holy wars or in travelling overseas, his wife Mabel, weary of waiting for his return, bigamously married a Welsh knight. After an absence of ten years, however, Sir William came home again and, notwithstanding his pilgrim's habit, was recognised by his wife. Whereupon the Welsh knight fled from the outraged husband, who pursued, and, overtaking, slew him. Dame Mabel's confessor enjoined her to walk barefoot once every week for the rest of her life to do penance at a certain cross on the outskirts of Wigan. The cross is the same which is situated at the end of Standishgate, and has borne the significant name of "Mab's Cross" from the fourteenth century to this day. The romantic story was used by Sir Walter Scott as the basis of his novel, The Betrothed. This tradition of employing crosses as places of public penance survives in the shape of the old-fashioned stocks situated at the foot of village and market crosses (Fig. [6]).

Of Banbury Cross, Oxfordshire, immortalised in nursery rhyme, it is much to be regretted that no vestige remains. John Leland, between about 1535 and 1545, writes in his Itinerary: "At the west part of the street," which runs east and west through the town, "is a large area, having a goodly cross with many degrees (steps) about it. In this area is kept every Thursday a very celebrate market."

As the churchyard or village cross was the centre of the life of the smaller community, so also the market cross became the centre of the municipal life of towns and boroughs. Thus, it was the custom, at the close of the civic year, for the mayor and electors, being summoned by the blowing of a horn, to assemble at the churchyard cross at Folkestone, and at the market cross (now but a gaunt obelisk) at Ripon, for the election of a mayor for the ensuing year of office.

At Chester, "the High Cross (Fig. [24]) was the scene of all great civic functions. Here, again and again, royalty was received.... Here proclamations were read out with due formality, and here the (famous) mystery plays were represented." Among the official uses to which market crosses were put was that of a recognised place for public proclamations. Thus, it was at the market cross at Darlington, in 1312, that the Bishop's order, prohibiting a tournament, which had been announced to take place, was read. This particular market cross, by the way, no longer exists, but its site is perpetuated by a plain cylindrical column, surmounted by a ball, erected at the cost of Dame Dorothy Browne in 1727.

At Wells it was a time-honoured custom that public proclamations should always be read and published first at the High Cross. It was from the cross at Lyme, Dorset, where he landed on 11th June 1685, that the declaration of the rebel Duke of Monmouth was read; and it was from the crosses of Taunton on 20th June, and Bridgwater, a day or two later, that, emboldened by his reception in the west, he caused himself to be proclaimed King of England—only to meet with crushing humiliation and defeat from the forces of King James II. at Sedgemoor on 6th July 1685.

The strangest and ghastliest of all uses to which a village cross could be put is that of a gallows; but, unless tradition lies, the notorious Judge Jeffreys actually hanged a man on the cross at Wedmore, Somerset. This identical cross, with its tall shaft and sculptured head, still stands, though removed from its original site beside the shambles to the garden of the house in which Judge Jeffreys himself is believed to have lodged, presumably during the Bloody Assize in the autumn of 1685, following the collapse of Monmouth's rebellion.

At Louth, Lincolnshire, a market cross was erected by the parish in 1521-22. That this structure was in the form of a roofed shelter, with a lofty shaft rising from the midst, is evident from the circumstances of the rebellion in 1536. The malcontents, it is recorded, had seized a number of the official books, and were about to burn them unread, when they came face to face with a certain priest, named William Morland. Upon his remonstrating with them, they dragged him under the High Cross and compelled him to examine the said books before consigning them to the flames. Meanwhile, others of the crowd brought the registrar, "and caused him, by a ladder, to climb up to the altitude, or highest part, of the cross," who, in abject terror for his life, sought to appease the mob by consenting to the destruction of the books in his charge. A portion of this cross, being, perhaps, so much of it as was adjudged to be superstitious, was taken down in 1573. Three stones were purchased for mending the cross in 1632, and further repairs, including tiling, were carried out in 1639. The "cross pales," presumably the railings or posts about the cross, were removed in October 1753; but a proposal for enclosing the structure, "to keep it clean and decent," was carried by the parish in November 1769. Another cross was situated at a spot in Louth, known as Julian Bower. This cross, according to the churchwardens' accounts, was renewed in stone in 1544.

At Peterborough the old market cross, long since swept away, was a covered cross, as is evident from the town accounts, which note, in 1649, a sum of money "received under the market cross by several fellows for the use of the poor"; and, again, a further sum in 1652 "from the standers under the cross."

In parts of Wales it was formerly the custom for labourers offering themselves for hire to congregate at the village cross, bargains made at such a spot being regarded as of more binding nature than those made elsewhere. It was indeed considered peculiarly dishonourable and impious to break a contract made at the cross. The village cross of Rhuddlan, in Flintshire, was so much frequented for hiring purposes, that the amount of the wages prevailing there became the standard for the time being for the whole district. There was also this distinction, viz., that labourers, hired at Rhuddlan, were hired for a week, during which term the rate agreed upon could not be altered; as distinguished from the crosses of other places where the custom was for the labourer to be hired by the day only—the scale of his pay being liable to fluctuate accordingly from day to day.

In addition to the several kinds of crosses above enumerated, some writers name "weeping crosses." What is meant by a weeping cross is not clear, nor has anyone pretended to assign to such edifices, if indeed they ever existed except in popular fallacy, any characteristic features by which they may be recognised as distinct from other crosses. For all practical purposes, then, the weeping cross is not. Or again, it might well have been in any given case that a cross was provided in order that a preacher might deliver his sermon from its steps. But unless such a cross was constructed with the architectural features of a pulpit cross (like those, for instance, at Iron Acton (Fig. [144]) or the Blackfriars' Cross at Hereford (Fig. [143])) then surely it must only be reckoned with the normal type of churchyard or village cross, from which it differs in no particular whatever. In a word, the one standard by which the various crosses in the following pages are grouped and classified is not their respective use and purpose, real or imaginary, but their structural shape.

II. MONOLITH CROSSES

THE peculiar form of many crosses of Cornish type, among others, viz., a thick, rude monolith, with rounded head, is accounted for by some authorities, who pronounce such crosses to be nothing else than primeval menhirs. These venerated stones, then, it is stated, instead of being demolished on the conversion of the populace from paganism, were retained, and, after having the crucifixion or some other Christian device incised, or sculptured in bas-relief, upon the upper portion of the shaft, pressed into the service of the newly adopted faith.

Such, at any rate, was the practice of St Patrick, in the fifth century. It is true that if in any place he found the old superstitious worship too deep-rooted and perverse to admit of transformation, as it befell at Magh Sleacht, in County Cavan, where he encountered a group of thirteen pagan menhirs, he could not do but overthrow them without ruth; but whenever, on the other hand, as beside Lough Hacket, in County Galway, he found other menhirs, the popular regard for which was capable of being diverted into Christian channels, he spared the pillar-stones, sanctifying them with holy names and emblems.

The cutting away of certain portions of the top of the stone would result in a short-armed cross; or, again, a little shaping, combined with piercing, would produce the four-holed cross, so-called, viz., a cross within a ring or circle. It should be remarked at the outset that the dating of these early monuments is a study which has hitherto been strangely neglected. Antiquaries, like the late J. Romilly Allen, for example, have analysed and codified the ornamented motifs of early crosses with methodical precision; but the chronological side of the subject is still a matter of debate. So widely do experts differ that sometimes it happens that the same monument will be assigned by some to the fifth or sixth, and by others to later dates ranging to the twelfth century. Even when the cross happens to be inscribed with runes, which might be expected to afford an authentic clue as to its date and origin, the readings and interpretations propounded by connoisseurs are so irreconcilable as to make one sceptical of arriving at truth or finality through their guidance. The whole question of chronology yet awaits investigation by some competent authority. It must be understood, therefore, that the dates attributed to the several examples in this section cannot pretend to be anything else but approximate, although every care has been taken to obtain the most approved estimate.

25, 26. BEWCASTLE, CUMBERLAND

TWO VIEWS OF MONOLITH IN THE CHURCHYARD

27, 28. EYAM, DERBYSHIRE

VIEWS OF CROSS IN CHURCHYARD, SHOWING FRONT AND BACK

29, 30. SANDBACH, CHESHIRE

DETAILS OF CROSSES, WITH PLAN, SHOWING HOW THEY STAND

31. SANDBACH, CHESHIRE

South of the church, in the churchyard at Bewcastle, Cumberland, stands an obelisk or shaft of an early cross (Figs. [3], [25], and [26]), strikingly like the famous cross at Ruthwell, in Dumfriesshire. The head of the latter is fairly complete, but in the case of the Bewcastle cross "the head was broken off long ago," wrote Bishop G. F. Browne. "About the year 1600, it was sent ... to Lord Arundel, and, beyond a description in Camden, with an attempt at a representation of the Runic inscription it bore, nothing has been heard of it since." The height of the surviving part is 14 ft. 6 in. It is incised with Anglian runes, which, however, are so much worn, and have been so variously rendered, that no reliance can be placed on their alleged authority. Scholars also differ widely as to the date of the cross, some placing it as early as 665, and others even as late as 1150. The west face comprises three standing human figures, in three tiers, the lowest depicting a man with a hawk, while the middle one, a nimbed figure, has been identified as Christ setting His feet upon the heads of monsters. On the east face is one long uninterrupted vine scroll, with birds and beasts in the volutes. The north and south faces are subdivided into panels containing chequers, interlaced knots, and scrollwork. In one of the scrolls on the south face is the oldest detached dial in existence, as distinct from dials on the walls of buildings. It presents a combination of the old 24-system and the octaval system; but the gnomon is missing.

In the churchyard of Eyam, Derbyshire, is a peculiarly handsome cross, of Anglo-Saxon workmanship, of about the year 700 (Figs. [27] and [28]). The cross now measures 9 ft. 4 in. high; but the head is detached and obviously incomplete, if indeed it belongs to the shaft at all. Assuming, however, that it does belong, the existing lines and proportions would make the cross in its original state attain a total height of some 11 ft. 6 in. The width across the arms is 3 ft. 3 in. Both faces of the cross-top are sculptured with four angels each, that one at the intersection being encircled with a ring. All that part of the head below the central medallion is missing. The obverse of the shaft has two panels of figure-subjects above a very rich and elaborate interlaced knot-ornament. The edges have an interlaced pattern derived from a six-cord plait. The reverse of the shaft is occupied with the volutes of a "vine scroll."

In the churchyard of Bakewell, Derbyshire, stands the relic of a monolith with short-limbed cross-head (Fig. [39]). It dates from about 800 to 900; and, exclusive of the boulder which forms the base, stands 7 ft. 10 in. high, by about 2 ft. wide over all at the widest part. One portion is sculptured with four compartments of figure-subjects, presumably scriptural, the uppermost one being apparently a crucifixion, though the stone is too much curtailed, and the ornament too broken, for certainty on the point. The other face and the sides are occupied with so-called vine scroll, an adaptation of debased classical Roman work.

32. IRTON, CUMBERLAND

CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD

The two mutilated crosses standing side by side in the market square at Sandbach, Cheshire (Figs. 29, 30, and 31), have had an eventful history. Dating from the ninth century, it is on record that they were still standing in 1585; but, since they are not mentioned by Webb in 1621, the assumption is that they had been broken up in the interval. Anyhow, the different parts became dispersed. Some were taken, by Sir John Crewe, to Utkinton Hall, where they remained until his death in 1711. They were subsequently removed to Tarporley rectory. Thence, after Cole, the antiquary, had seen and made drawings of them in 1757, they were taken to Oulton Park, where they were seen and drawn by S. Lysons. Other portions, however, of these crosses never left Sandbach, some of the lower parts being built into a wall by the town well, while the summit was found to have been buried in a garden. Lastly, through the zealous instrumentality of Dr George Ormerod, the various fragments were collected, and re-erected at Sandbach in September 1816. "The two crosses stand on a substructure of two steps, with two sockets, in which the crosses are fixed. At the angle of each stage of the platform are stone posts, on which figures have been rudely carved." The head of either cross had been broken off, so that their proper height has been reduced. "The crosses are now of unequal height.... The taller one is 16 ft. 8 in. high; the shorter one, 11 ft. 11 in." high. Both crosses are of rectangular section, and tapering. It is not easy to convey in words an adequate idea of the extraordinary richness and variety of their sculptured ornament, which includes patterns derived from three-cord, four-cord, and eight-cord plaits, and figure of eight knots, as well as "much the finest series of figure subjects ... probably in all England." On the larger cross the Crucifixion amid the Evangelistic symbols, and beneath it the Nativity, with the ox and ass adoring, are clearly discernible; but the identification of other subjects is in many cases only conjectural. "The smaller cross bears a variety of human figures placed within ... lozenges." The stone of the crosses is of lower Silurian formation, practically indestructible by the natural action of the weather, a circumstance which accounts for the remarkable preservation of those parts which the wanton hand of man has spared.

The monolith cross in the churchyard at Irton, Cumberland (Fig. [32]), stands 9 ft. 8 in. high, and, with the exception of the cross-head, the surface of which is much worn, is a singularly perfect specimen. Its edges are ornamented with quasi-classic vine scrolls. The obverse and reverse are covered with interlaced ornaments and key patterns. The uppermost panel on one face is a diaper formed by a repetition of small Greek crosses, set diagonally. The date of this cross is approximately 950.

The tall sandstone cross, now in the churchyard of Gosforth, in Cumberland (Fig. [33]), is classed by the late Mr J. Romilly Allen as belonging to a well-known type, Mercian in origin, in which the shaft is cylindrical below and rectangular in the upper part. It may be dated from about 1000 to 1066. A second cross, which is recorded to have stood at a distance of 7 ft. from the first named, disappeared, probably in the year 1789. In the extant cross the four flat faces of the upper part of the shaft gradually die off into the round surface of the lower part, giving a semicircular line of intersection, which is emphasised by a roll moulding, forming a continuation of the mouldings on the four square angles. The four flat surfaces exhibit a great variety of human and animal forms, with zoomorphic ornament and abstract plaits. Some of the subjects have been interpreted as illustrating the stories of Heimdal and Loke, from Norse mythology, though the whole is actually surmounted by a Christian four-holed cross for head. The round part of the shaft in crosses of this type is not, as a rule, ornamented. The Gosforth cross, therefore, is in this respect exceptional. Its height is 14 ft. 6 in.

33. GOSFORTH, CUMBERLAND

CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD

Within Whitford parish, Flintshire, about a mile from the village, on open ground, and quite unprotected, stands an ancient monolith cross, known as Maen y Chwyfan (Fig. [36]). The name can be traced back at least to the year 1388. The first part of it is identical with the first syllable of the word menhir. The last part of the name is of doubtful signification. Some have thought that the whole means "St Cwyfan's stone." The precise age of the cross is likewise doubtful, but it may be dated from about 950 to 1000. Its total height above ground is 11 ft. 3 in., by 11 in. thick, the stem diminishing in width from 2 ft. 5 in. at the base to 1 ft. 8 in. at the neck of the solid wheel-head, the diameter of which is 2 ft. 4 in. The flat stone, through which the stem passes for support, measures 4 ft. 11 in. by 4 ft. 4 in. The cross is incised on the edges, as well as on both faces; though almost all the ornament of the lower half of the reverse, or west face, has perished. The condition of the obverse, or east face, is by far the most perfect, and exhibits a wonderful combination of patterns—crosses, knots, osier-plaits, and other devices. In the head, the Triquetra, or three-cornered knot, is conspicuous. Altogether the Maen y Chwyfan is the most important and striking monument of its kind in North Wales.

34. WHALLEY, LANCASHIRE

CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD

35. CHEADLE, CHESHIRE

CROSS, NOW IN YORK MUSEUM

Writing in 1872, Mr J. T. Blight described the early twelfth-century cross (now in the cemetery of Lanherne House Nunnery, Mawgan-in-Pyder, Cornwall) (Fig. [38]) as having been "removed several years since from the Chapel Close of the Barton of Roseworthy, in the parish of Gwinear." The crucifix, sculptured in low relief, is of the rudest and most primitive character, while the cross itself belongs to the class known as "four-holed." It is of Pentewan stone. Interlaced work forms the greater part of the ornament, and on the lower portion of the shaft, on either face, is an ancient inscription. The shaft has an unmistakable entasis.

The head of another four-holed cross, the holes having the shape of rough trefoils, is to be seen in the churchyard of St Columb Major, Cornwall. Both faces of the cross are similarly sculptured with the Triquetra (Fig. [37]). The height is 3 ft. 1½ in. by 2 ft. 9 in. wide, over all, the material granite.

At Cheadle, Cheshire, in 1875, there were dug up, in a brickfield opposite to the Convalescent Hospital, the fragments of an early cross, probably of the tenth century, of Anglo-Saxon type (Fig. [35]). In each limb of the cross, as well as at the intersection, is a convex boss. The material of the cross is a coarse grit stone. The dimensions are 1 ft. 4 in. wide at the greatest width, by 2 ft. 8 in. in height. It is now preserved at the Museum at York.

In the parish churchyard of Whalley, Lancashire, stands a cross (Fig. [34]), which was, no doubt, originally a monolith, but has been broken across, and appears to have had its fractured edges trimmed and squared. At any rate, part of the stem, perhaps as much as 2 ft. of the height, where the cross-head rests upon it, is obviously missing. The arms also are missing, but the cross was originally of much the same outline as that of the cross at Irton and that from Cheadle. The ornament of the Whalley cross, however, is of much more refined execution. The date of it may be about 1000.

In the churchyard of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, opposite to the south porch, stands an ancient shaft, 14 ft. high, traditionally known as the Danes' cross (Fig. [2]). It rises from a round stone, 7 ft. in diameter, and its form is that of a cylinder, 2 ft. 6 in. in diameter, tapering toward the neck. Almost the entire surface of the shaft is covered with sculptured ornament of about the year 1150 to 1175. There is, or was, a somewhat similar example in the churchyard of Leek, in the same county.

Another twelfth-century cross is that inscribed in memory of Ralph's son, William, at Fletton, in Huntingdonshire (Figs. [40], [41]). This cross is a monolith, though the continuity of the design is interrupted by a heavy fillet, forming a horizontal band round the middle of the shaft.

36. WHITFORD, FLINTSHIRE

EAST SIDE OF CROSS, NAMED MAEN Y CHWYFAN

37. ST COLUMB MAJOR, CORNWALL

HEAD OF A CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD

38. MAWGAN-IN-PYDER, CORNWALL

LANHERNE HOUSE NUNNERY, CROSS FROM ROSEWORTHY, GWINEAR

39. BAKEWELL, DERBYSHIRE

CROSS IN CHURCHYARD

40, 41. FLETTON, HUNTINGDONSHIRE

FRONT AND BACK OF CROSS

42. HEXHAM, NORTHUMBERLAND

CROSS AT ST GILES' HOSPITAL

43. WOOLER, HEDGELEY MOOR, NORTHUMBERLAND

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.

III. THE SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE

THE average form of standing cross, and such to which the vast majority of them, not in churchyards only, but also on village greens and squares, or by the wayside, belongs, is that of the shaft-on-steps type. The fully developed cross of this sort consists of steps or calvary, socket, shaft or stem, capital or knop, and head. The latter, it should be remarked, is that part of the cross which, no doubt on account of the sacred or legendary significance of the figures sculptured upon it, is now most commonly absent. The remaining elements consisting of such simple units, it is truly wonderful how great variety of treatment is to be observed in crosses of the kind. The resources of their design may almost be said to be unlimited. It rarely happens that any two examples are found quite alike in all respects. For though the simplest of motifs be adopted, yet a minute change of detail, such as a hollow chamfer instead of a plain, flat bevel, or the setting of an angle pedestal diagonally instead of squarely with the side it adjoins, or some such other slight divergence, if insignificant in itself, will not fail to produce, by consistent repetition, a widely different result in the aggregate. The parts which lend themselves more appropriately than the rest to ornamental treatment are the socket, the knop, and most of all, the head. The steps, whether circular, rectangular, hexagonal, or octagonal on plan, are not made the subject for ornament, except rarely, and then it is confined to a moulded overhanging drip, or a moulded set-off in the angle between the tread and the riser, as for example, at Bishop's Lydeard (Fig. [20]), Charlton Mackerel (Fig. [19]), and North Petherton, in Somersetshire (Fig. [77]), and Raunds, in Northamptonshire (Fig. [45]). Raunds cross has two steps, and the riser of the upper one is enriched with late-Gothic quatrefoil panelling. Such treatment, however, is altogether exceptional; and even in this case can scarcely be authentic, seeing that the quatrefoils are not properly spaced, as they must have been spaced, had they been designed for the position they now occupy.

45. RAUNDS, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

CHURCHYARD CROSS

On the other hand, the stone block or socket, into which the shaft is mortised (and furthermore, as a rule, secured with lead), was regarded as a thoroughly appropriate place for ornament. It is most usually square on plan, and its upper bed made octagonal by means of steps or broaches, in the shaping of which a very great variety is manifested. The commonest form of step is diamond-pointed, but there are others which take the shape of a sort of round hump. Examples of plain diamond steps occur in the sockets of Thatcham (Fig. [61]) and Water Perry (Fig. [4]) crosses. The socket at Stanway, Gloucestershire (Fig. [60]), with its severely geometrical triangles and lozenges, is of most unusual form. It measures 1 ft. 10 in. high, exclusive of the fractured stump of the shaft. Convex angle-stops occur at Carlton (Fig. [63]), Cumnor (Fig. [59]), Stringston (Fig. [5]), and Wicken (Fig. [62]). The socket of the last-named cross is 2 ft. 6 in. square by 1 ft. 8 in. high. Its octagonal shaft is 11½ in. square at the foot, with pointed stops reaching up to a height of 9 in. Some of the round stops, at the corners of sockets, have a diagonal ridge extending to the outer angle, as at Carlton (Fig. [63]), Stevington (Fig. [17]), and Stringston (Fig. [5]). The knop of the last-named, it may be mentioned, consisted of four demi-angels, holding shields, but their heads have been broken off, and themselves made almost unrecognisable through defacement. To resume, the sockets of the crosses at Elmswell in Suffolk, at Bradford Abbas and Stalbridge (Fig. [58]), both in Dorsetshire, and of at least a dozen crosses in Somersetshire, including Doulting (Figs. [74], [75, and 76]), Evercreech, Minehead, North Petherton (Fig. [77]), West Pennard, and Wraxall, have angle-pedestals on every alternate cant of the octagon. These pedestals may have been designed for statuettes of the four Evangelists. Whatever the subject of the figures, the effect of the whole group, with the tall shaft in the middle, must have been very handsome. At Dundry (Fig. [78]) and Wick St Laurence, both in Somersetshire, instead of detached or engaged pedestals, there are, at the angles of the square socket, clasping buttresses with mouldings. The plan of Dundry, Wraxall, and Yatton is made extra elaborate and complex by means of a plinth, forming an eight-pointed figure, inserted between the socket and the topmost step of the calvary.

At Headington (Figs. [69] and [70]), Ombersley (Figs. [66], [67, and 68]), Raglan (Fig. [71]), and Wicken (Fig. [62]), the sockets are handsomely panelled with late-Gothic tracery ornament, principally quatrefoils. The sockets of Doulting (Figs. [74], [75, and 76]) and West Pennard crosses, in Somersetshire, have emblems of the Passion carved on the sides; that at Charlton Mackerel (Fig. [19]) has the Evangelistic symbols in the same position. More rarely, as at Bishop's Lydeard (Fig. [20]) and Long Sutton, both also in Somersetshire, and at Rampisham and Stalbridge (Fig. [58]), both in Dorsetshire, and Yarnton, Oxfordshire (Figs. [51] and [52]), the panels of the socket contain sculptured figure-subjects. An octagonal socket at Westcote, Gloucestershire, has a standing figure under a trefoiled niche on each side. This is an early example, since its date is the thirteenth century. At Didmarton, in the same county, is a fourteenth-century socket, octagonal on plan, having a half-length figure sculptured on every alternate side.

The churchyard cross at Dorchester, Oxfordshire (Fig. [65]), had lost its original head by the time that Buckler made his sketch in 1813. According to him, the lower step was 6 in. high, and the next one above it 10 in. high. The socket was 1 ft. 7 in. square on plan, by 1 ft. 6 in. high; the shaft being a monolith 8 ft. 6½ in. high from socket to head. As to the socket, the transition from square to octagon, by means of stops, is very effective. The cross has since suffered drastic "restoration." The treatment of the stops on the socket may be compared with that at Keyingham, Yorkshire (Fig. [64]), and Headington, Oxfordshire (Fig. [69]).

The Whitefriars' cross (Figs. [72] and [73]), so-called, about a mile from Hereford, is believed to have been built, shortly after the great plague at Hereford in the fourteenth century, by Lewis Charlton, Bishop from 1361 to 1369. On the summit of a lofty flight of seven steps rises a high pedestal, hexagonal on plan, each side of which has a sunk panel, sculptured with a shield charged with a lion rampant. The cornice is embattled, and the whole was crowned with a moulded socket. Such was the state of the monument in 1806, the shaft and cross-head having completely disappeared, thereby reducing the total height to some 15 ft. A new shaft and cross, disproportionately large, were "restored" by the year 1875. The peculiar feature of this cross is the lofty pedestal, which scarcely has any parallel, with the exception of the crosses of Helpston, in Northamptonshire, and of Aylburton and Clearwell, both in Gloucestershire.

As to the shaft, whether it be cylindrical, clustered, square, or octagonal, it usually tapers, but is very seldom ornamented, beyond having a stop near the foot of each alternate cant in an octagonal stem. A few crosses may now be described, illustrating different treatments of the shaft.

The cross in the churchyard at Rocester, Staffordshire (Figs. [47] and [48]), has three steps, each 6 in. high. The socket is 2 ft. 4 in. high, and the tapering stem, which is 1 ft. square over all at the bottom, is 11 ft. 9 in. high, exclusive of the capital. The stem, in the form of four keel-moulded shafts, with a vertical strip of dog-tooth ornament between them, must be of early date, possibly as early as 1230.

The socket of the Great Grimsby churchyard cross (Fig. [49]) may be earlier still, although the stem or shaft itself might be somewhat later, perhaps about the middle of the thirteenth century. On plan the stem consists of four engaged shafts, each with a keel-mould on its outermost projection. The step is 3 ft. 8 in. square by 9 in. high. Next is a socket, 2 ft. 7 in. square on plan, consisting of two stages, the lower having a trefoiled arcade on each of its four sides, the upper one octagonal, with mouldings. The shaft is 6 ft. 2 in. high, including the capital. The total height is 10 ft. 3 in.

The village cross at Harringworth, Northamptonshire, has, not unlike the last example, a shaft composed of a cluster of eight engaged columns. It is apparently of late thirteenth-century date.

Two Oxfordshire examples, both of about the same date, 1290, viz., the churchyard cross at Yarnton (Figs. [51] and [52]) and the market cross at Eynsham (Fig. [50]), are adorned with sculpture, notably with canopied figures in low relief surrounding the foot of the shaft. Both shafts are much weather-worn, and that of Yarnton has lost its upper half, but the design of the two crosses appears to have been very similar. Yarnton cross stands upon two circular steps, the lower one of which has a diameter of about 6 ft. 9 in. or 7 ft. The socket has a circular plinth cut out of the same block of stone, and is on plan a quatrefoil of four circles, with the corners of a smaller square occupying the inner angles. The moulded capping is also cut in the same block. On each of the four semicircular faces is a niche incised with a figure in armour, kneeling, except on the eastern face, which exhibits a figure reclining somewhat in the familiar "Dying Gaul" attitude. The figure on the south face has a shield on the left arm. The bottom of the shaft is square on plan, with beaded angles, while the other part is on plan a circle, surrounded by four smaller engaged circles, or segments of circles. The figures round the shaft are four saints, now too much worn to be identified, under steep gables, with crockets. The cross at Eynsham differs from that at Yarnton more in the socket than in any other part. The Eynsham socket is a square block, with a figure sculptured at each angle, and gabled panels between. The upper part of the shaft is complete, and shows what must have been the form of the portion now wanting from Yarnton cross.

Another instance of an ornamented shaft is that of Mitchel Troy (Fig. [57]). There the stem, a monolith of reddish sandstone, about 1 ft. by 8 in. on plan at the foot, tapers to about half the above dimensions at the point where it is broken off, at a height of about 11 ft. The angles are chamfered, and the chamfers are ornamented with ball-flowers alternating with shields, sixteen ball-flowers on each chamfer. The date of this cross is the fourteenth century. Two Northamptonshire crosses, those of Higham Ferrers (c. 1320) and Irthlingborough (c. 1280) respectively (Figs. [55] and [56]), are ornamented with sculptured decorations throughout the whole height of the shaft. At Ashton-under-Hill, Gloucestershire, the face of the shaft of the cross, about a third of the distance up from the bottom, is ornamented with a scutcheon. A certain number of Somersetshire crosses has a figure under a niche on one side of the shaft. In cases where, as at Burton St David, Broadway, Holford, Montacute, and Wiveliscombe, the niche and figure are sunk into the body of the monolith itself, there can scarcely be any objection to the device. But where, on the contrary, the statue, set on a bracket, stands prominently forward beyond the face of the shaft, the effect is anything but happy. For then the shaft looks so weighted down in one direction as almost to overbalance. The crosses at Bishop's Lydeard (Fig. [20]) and Crowcombe (Fig. [118]) are particularly exaggerated instances in point; others only less marked being the crosses at Drayton (Fig. [54]), Fitzhead, Heathfield, Hinton St George, and Horsington (Fig. [53]). But this peculiarity is not confined to Somersetshire. Thus, at Stalbridge, Dorsetshire (Fig. [58]), a conspicuous statue and niche occur on one side of the shaft, while at Bradford Abbas, in the same county, the churchyard cross, though much decayed, affords unmistakable traces of having had a statue sculptured on each of the four sides of the shaft. A similar arrangement is to be found in Langley Abbey cross, Norfolk.

46. ROTHERSTHORP, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

HEAD OF CROSS

The knop, though richly sculptured, is rarely the pronounced and distinctive feature that it is at Maughold (Figs. [86], [87]), St Donat's (Figs. [108], [109]), and Sherburn-in-Elmet (Fig. [113]), or in the so-called Ravenspurne cross, a monument now standing at Hedon, Yorkshire (Fig. [79]). The chamfers of its shaft have traces of figures about midway, and the head is large and imposing, but too ill-defined for the subject to be identified. It has, however, been described as having "curious sculptured emblems of our Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary." The cross is said to have been erected to commemorate the landing of Henry IV. in 1399 at Ravenspur, near Spurn Head, in the East Riding. Edward IV. also landed there in 1471. Ravenspur was a well-known seaport in former times, but its site is now completely submerged. The cross stood on the seashore at Kilnsea until 1818, when it was removed further inland, for safety from the encroaching sea. It was eventually set up in the town of Hedon.

Usually the knop is reduced to a mere bead, or at any rate is nothing more prominent than the expanding cove beneath the actual head, as at Ampney Crucis, Derwen, and in the two crosses at Cricklade. A factor of immense importance in preserving the organic coherence between shaft and head (wherever the latter takes the form of a cross) is that the lines of the shaft below the knop and of the lower limb of the cross above the knop, should be absolutely continuous, as though passing through, but not interrupted by, the knop. This requisite is satisfactorily exemplified by two very fine Lincolnshire specimens, viz., the well proportioned cross at Somersby (Fig. [81]), and one, now at Keyingham, Yorkshire (Fig. [80]), known, from the name of him who set it up there, as the Owst cross, since the exact place from which it originally came in Lincolnshire has not been recorded. In both these instances, the handsome knop, moulded and embattled, is but a surrounding band or ring, which occasions no sort of break in the composition, nor interferes at all with the even trend of its upward lines. At Somersby the motif of the crenellated knop is admirably followed up in the battlements of the gabled roof over the head of the crucifix. The shaft is octagonal, and the cross stands altogether 15 ft. high.

The crown and glory of the cross is the head, and it was upon this that the choicest art of the sculptor was lavished; and it is instructive to trace the development from the rudimentary crudities of the thirteenth to the perfect maturity of the late-fifteenth century.

In pulling down an old barn in the village of Rothersthorp, Northamptonshire, in 1869, there was found the head of a cross (Fig. [46]), which was placed in the parish church in about 1890. The stone is 2 ft. 9 in. high by 1 ft. 3 in. wide. The crucifix, which is surrounded by a ring, springs from a mass of thirteenth-century foliage, the capital beneath being surrounded with a belt of foliage of similar kind.

At Halesowen, Worcestershire (Fig. [82]), in or about 1915, there was found, built into the walls of a cottage, the sculptured head of a cross, which may date as far back as 1300 to 1320. It is of red sandstone, and much weatherworn, besides the deliberate defacement which it has undergone. On plan it is an oblong square, 10 in. by 6 in., the extreme height being 1 ft. 7½ in. On one side is a crucifixion without attendant figures; and, on the opposite side, the Blessed Virgin enthroned, holding her Divine Son on one arm and an apple in the other hand. The ends of the cross-head contain unidentified figures, one a female saint, conjectured to be St Agatha, the other an ecclesiastic, vested in amice and chasuble, and holding his crosier in his left hand. That which he wears on his head is broken, but it looks more like a tiara than a mitre. This cross-head is a peculiarly interesting example, not only because of its early date, but also because its existence is hardly known.

The cross-head found among the ruins of Croxden Abbey, Staffordshire (Fig. [88]), and sketched by Buckler in the first half of the nineteenth century, is of a somewhat unusual type for its purpose, with handsome crocketing. The Christ has the feet crossed and fastened with a single nail in the newer fashion, though the arms are, in the ancient mode, perfectly horizontal. The work dates probably from the closing years of the fourteenth century.

How widely individual treatment might vary within a comparatively short space of time is illustrated by the fragments of the cross-head, found built into the east gable of North Hinksey church, in Berkshire, near Oxford (Figs. [83], [84], and [85]). The cross is of rich floriation, overlaid upon which is a perfectly plain narrow cross, bearing the image of the Crucified, Whose feet are crossed, as at Croxden; while, on the contrary, the arms and hands are dragged upward in the fashion that prevailed at a much later period. This cross-head belongs to about the middle of the fourteenth century. The shaft and steps still stand in the churchyard, to the south of the chancel. The shaft is fractured at a height of 8 ft. 9 in. from the socket; the total height, including socket and steps, is 13 ft. 8 in.

At Bleadon, Somersetshire, "a few years ago," wrote C. Pooley in 1877, during the restoration of the church, in removing the plaster, there was found embedded in a recess in the east wall of the porch, the sculptured stone head of a cross of the time of Edward III. (Fig. [89]). The side exposed, the reverse, portrays the Blessed Virgin and Child between two donors, a man and woman, kneeling. The remarkable feature of this cross-head is the gilding and polychrome decoration, of which considerable traces had survived. The crucifix, on the obverse, being turned inward to the wall, is hidden from view; but, since this particular cross belongs to the same group as those, for example, of Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Stringston, and Wedmore, in the same county, in which the upper part of the figure-sculpture is pierced through from front to back, the arms and upper limb of the cross remain clearly visible from the reverse side.

In the churchyard of Newmarket, Flintshire (Figs. [90], [91]), stands a remarkable cross, with octagonal socket and shaft, both having diamond-pointed stops. The shaft is 6 ft. 5 in. high, and surmounted with a massive capital or knop. The head is tabernacled on all four faces, but its end niches are empty. The niches of the obverse and reverse have each a crucifixion, the one unaccompanied, the other between Mary and John. This curious anomaly of a double yet divergent representation in one and the same cross-head occurs also at Mitton, Yorkshire. The cross-head at Newmarket measures 3 ft. 6 in. wide at its widest, by 1 ft. 6 in. from front to back. The date of the work is about the middle of the fourteenth century.

At Maughold, Isle of Man (Figs. [86], [87]), just outside the churchyard gate, and at a distance of about 90 ft. from the north-west angle of the church, stands a cross of very remarkable design, quite unlike the distinctive Manxland type. It is, in fact, of middle-Gothic, belonging, to all appearance, with its blunt cusps and its turgid crockets and finial, to the approximate period of 1330 to 1340. Some authorities, however, assign it to a date some hundred years or more later. The head and knop are in two pieces, which, being of St Bees sandstone, a material foreign to the island, must have been imported thither, perhaps already carved complete, ready for fixing. The knop is square, measuring 14 in. every way. The head is 2 ft. 7 in. high, by 18 in. wide at the widest part, by 8 in. thick. Both head and shaft are tenoned into the knop. The shaft, 5 ft. 1 in. high, is octagonal throughout the greatest extent of its length, but the alternate sides have stops, so that the shaft is actually square on plan at top and bottom. The head is of most unusual shape, the principal panel on either side presenting a sort of rough resemblance to a pointed spade; and containing, on the west, a Madonna and Child, and, on the east, a crucifixion, with the arms spread out quite horizontally, after the manner of earlier tradition. On the knop, under the crucifix, is a heater-shaped shield, bearing, alone of the six shields in the composition, a heraldic charge, viz., the Three Legs of Man (only reversed), with huge rowels to the spurs. The shield on the knop beneath the Madonna has a rose encircled by a ring, which has a bezel in the form of a cross. The north side has, at the top, a shield with a double rose. Lower down, on the same edge of the head, are rude representations of oak leaves, pointing downward; and below, on the knop, is a shield with a chalice, which has the invected foot with points, characteristic of the fourteenth century. The shield at the top of the south edge is per fess, a bud or flower with two wavy leaves on either hand; while underneath are three oak leaves on the shield itself, and one below the shield. Beneath the last-named leaf is a sunk panel with the representation of a warrior on his knees (no doubt the donor), turning, with hands upraised, toward the Madonna in the adjoining panel. On the knop, below the kneeling figure, is a shield with an unidentified charge, a square object entirely composed of vertical flutings, above an oak leaf. The top surface of the head is almost flat, and appears to have borne a capstone, the dowel holes for attaching which yet remain. The shaft is let into a plain square socket. The cross, though weathered, is in wonderful preservation, and is now protected by an iron railing. It is not known ever to have stood on any other than the present site.

At Wheston, a hamlet in Tideswell, Derbyshire, is a roadside cross of stone, of the late-fourteenth century, with octagonal, tapering shaft, culminating in a cusped rood, the uppermost limb of which is appreciably shorter than the arms (Figs. [92], [93]). On the obverse is a crucifix with the arms horizontally outstretched. The figure is bared to the waist, but the remainder of the body downwards is missing. On the reverse is a Virgin and Child, a Gothic rosette being sculptured near the end of each limb of the cross. The figure-sculpture is coarse and primitive. The shaft is mounted on four steps, the topmost one of which forms the socket, and, by means of diamond stops, assumes an octagonal plan.

The cross in the churchyard at Lanteglos juxta Fowey, Cornwall (Figs. [94], [95]), was discovered, about the year 1850, "buried deeply in the trench which runs round the wall of the church." After having lain prostrate for two or three years more, it was at last raised and placed erect, with a disused millstone for base, near the church porch. It is of granite, encrusted with lichen. The shaft, 8 ft. high, is octagonal, and tapers slightly from 14 in. at greatest width across the bottom; the four alternate sides being sculptured with sunk panelling, wheels, and rosettes of Gothic character. The head, about 2 ft. high, is an oblong square on plan. The widest sides have double canopies, with the Crucifixion, unattended, on the north, and the Blessed Virgin and Child on the south. The ends, being narrower, have each a single canopy, enshrining an unidentified figure. Mr J. T. Blight supposed them to represent Saints Peter and Paul; but Mr F. T. S. Houghton believes that one of the two is meant for St Tecla. So far as one may venture to judge from the extremely rude and unskilled figure-sculpture, the work seems to be of the late-fourteenth century. The above cross is typical of a certain number of Cornish crosses belonging to the matured mediæval period, in which the head is set direct on to the shaft, without intervening neck, or knop. Besides this feature there should be noted another characteristic in the crosses, for instance, at Callington, St Ives (Fig. [96]), and Mawgan-in-Pyder (Figs. [106], [107]), to wit their disproportionately thick and sturdy stem, as contrasted with the moderate size of the head.

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.

In the basement of the west tower of Pocklington church, Yorkshire, is a beautiful late-Gothic cross-head (Figs. [114, 115]), fitted on to a modern stem and base. On the obverse is sculptured the Crucifixion between Mary and John; on the reverse is the Trinity, while a single figure occupies either end. Beneath is the inscription: Orate pro aia(top parenthesis over word), Iohis(top parenthesis over 'his') Soteby.

At Cricklade, Wiltshire, are two crosses of the fifteenth century, one in St Mary's (Fig. [116]), the other in St Sampson's churchyard (Fig. [117]). The latter example, however, was not originally in the churchyard, but stood, at least down to 1807, as the market or town cross. Both these crosses must, as built, have closely resembled one another, but that at St Mary's is now much the more complete of the two. It stands on steps. The head is lantern-shaped, an oblong on plan, the overhang being corbelled forward by means of a demi-angel at each angle. The tabernacling is rich, and the figure-sculpture within it almost intact, though weather-beaten. The subject on the west is the Crucifixion between Mary and John; on the south, the Assumption; on the north, a bishop; and on the east, a queen with a knight. The cross now at St Sampson's has no steps, but the socket is handsomely panelled with sunk quatrefoils round its sides. All the figure-sculpture from the lantern head, which was formerly corbelled on angels, like the other, has been missing at least from 1806 onwards, if not earlier.

47. ROCESTER, STAFFORDSHIRE

CHURCHYARD CROSS, PLAN AND SECTIONS

The village crosses of Crowcombe (Fig. [118]), Bedale (Fig. [119]), Bonsall (Fig. [120]), Repton (Fig. [123]), Brigstock (Fig. [122]), and Child's Wickham (Fig. [7]), especially those which stand on high flights of steps adapted to the fall of the ground, all illustrate how charmingly such structures group in with their surroundings, and how great an ornament they contribute to the village landscape, even though they may have been robbed of their original head. The cross at Brigstock is comparatively intact. It bears the royal arms (quarterly France modern and England), and the initials E.R., with the date 1586. The cross at Child's Wickham dates from the fifteenth century. It is, unfortunately, disfigured by an eighteenth-century urn in place of the mediæval cross-head. In many cases the original heads have been replaced by square blocks with sundials. At Steeple Ashton (Fig. [121]), however, the classic column and sundial-block and globe are no doubt all of one date, the late-seventeenth, or the eighteenth century.

48. ROCESTER, STAFFORDSHIRE

CHURCHYARD CROSS

49. GREAT GRIMSBY, LINCOLNSHIRE

CHURCHYARD CROSS

50. EYNSHAM, OXFORDSHIRE

MARKET CROSS