Churchyard cross

Summary

Standing cross 150m north of Cerne Abbas parish church.

Reasons for Designation

A standing cross is a free standing upright structure, usually of stone, mostly erected during the medieval period (mid 10th to mid 16th centuries AD). Standing crosses served a variety of functions. In churchyards they served as stations for outdoor processions, particularly in the observance of Palm Sunday. Elsewhere, standing crosses were used within settlements as places for preaching, public proclamation and penance, as well as defining rights of sanctuary. Standing crosses were also employed to mark boundaries between parishes, property, or settlements. A few crosses were erected to commemorate battles. Some crosses were linked to particular saints, whose support and protection their presence would have helped to invoke. Crosses in market places may have helped to validate transactions. After the Reformation, some crosses continued in use as foci for municipal or borough ceremonies, for example as places for official proclamations and announcements; some were the scenes of games or recreational activity. Standing crosses were distributed throughout England and are thought to have numbered in excess of 12,000. However, their survival since the Reformation has been variable, being much affected by local conditions, attitudes and religious sentiment. In particular, many cross-heads were destroyed by iconoclasts during the 16th and 17th centuries. Less than 2,000 medieval standing crosses, with or without cross-heads, are now thought to exist. The most common form is the stepped cross, in which the shaft is set in a socket stone and raised upon a flight of steps; this type of cross remained current from the 11th to 12th centuries until after the Reformation. Standing crosses contribute significantly to our understanding of medieval customs, both secular and religious, and to our knowledge of medieval parishes and settlement patterns. The standing cross 150m north of Cerne Abbas parish church survives well and considering the fate of the nearby abbey and the loss of its own head bears witness to periods of intense religious and political turmoil.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 17 December 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes a standing cross situated in the graveyard of Cerne Abbas close to Cerne Abbey. The cross survives as an octagonal single stepped stone plinth and an octagonal socket stone above with a length of tapering octagonal shaft. The socket stone measures 1.1m in diameter and 0.5m high and the shaft is 0.3m in diameter and stands up to 0.7m high. The cross dates to the 15th century. The cross is listed Grade I.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

DO 200

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:-199028

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