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Shepherd's Cross, 250m south east of Over Hall Farm

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1014689
Date first listed:: 23-Oct-1968

Moss covered stone cross, nr Biddulph Grange — Uploaded by Steve McCabe This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1014689
Date first listed:: 23-Oct-1968
Date of most recent amendment:: 31-Jul-1996

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Staffordshire
District:: Staffordshire Moorlands (District Authority)
Parish:: Biddulph
National Grid Reference:: SJ 89624 60430

Reasons for Designation

Wayside crosses are one of several types of Christian cross erected during the medieval period, mostly from the 9th to 15th centuries AD. In addition to serving the function of reiterating and reinforcing the Christian faith amongst those who passed the cross and of reassuring the traveller, wayside crosses often fulfilled a role as waymarkers, especially in difficult and otherwise unmarked terrain. The crosses might be on regularly used routes linking ordinary settlements or on routes having a more specifically religious function, including those providing access to religious sites for parishioners and funeral processions, or marking long-distance routes frequented on pilgrimages. Over 350 wayside crosses are known nationally, concentrated in south west England throughout Cornwall and on Dartmoor where they form the commonest type of stone cross. A small group also occurs on the North York Moors. Relatively few examples have been recorded elsewhere and these are generally confined to remote moorland locations. Outside Cornwall almost all wayside crosses take the form of a `Latin' cross, in which the cross-head itself is shaped within the projecting arms of an unenclosed cross. In Cornwall wayside crosses vary considerably in form and decoration. The commonest type includes a round, or `wheel', head on the faces of which various forms of cross or related designs were carved in relief or incised, the spaces between the cross arms possibly pierced. The design was sometimes supplemented with a relief figure of Christ and the shaft might bear decorative panels and motifs. Less common forms in Cornwall include the `Latin' cross and, much rarer, the simple slab with a low relief cross on both faces. Rare examples of wheel-head and slab-form crosses also occur within the North York Moors group. Most wayside crosses have either a simple socketed base or show no evidence for a separate base at all. Wayside crosses contribute significantly to our understanding of medieval religious customs and sculptural traditions and to our knowledge of medieval routeways and settlement patterns. All wayside crosses which survive as earth- fast monuments, except those which are extremely damaged and removed from their original locations, are considered worthy of protection.

Shepherd's Cross is a good example of an early medieval wayside cross which is believed to stand in its original location. Limited disturbance of the area immediately surrounding the cross indicates that archaeological deposits relating to the monument's construction are likely to survive intact as buried features. Its location, close to the roadside, has ensured that Shepherd's Cross retains its function as a wayside cross, a public monument and landmark.

Details

The monument is situated 250m south east of Over Hall Farm within a partly walled roadside enclosure. It includes the shaft and cross-head of Shepherd's Cross, an early medieval wayside cross which is Listed Grade II. The cross has been carved from a single piece of Millstone Grit and has a roughly square-sectioned shaft. The eastern face of the shaft is marked with several deep-cut linear incisions which are believed to be more recent in date. Above the shaft is the cross-head which takes the form of a simple cross bar, although the two arms are not complete. The full height of the cross is 1.6m. The fence posts and the modern walling which defines the eastern side of the enclosure in which the cross sits are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 21637
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
Guthrie, J L, (1994)

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.