Medieval monastic wayside cross base

Overview

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1008776

Date first listed: 16-Sep-1994

Location

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

National Park: YORKSHIRE DALES

National Grid Reference: SD 90251 65713

Summary

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

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.

Although the cross at this site has been lost, its base survives in good condition. It is one of a small group adjacent to Mastiles Lane which continue to mark a monastic routeway across this area of moorland.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

The monument is situated on Malham Moor near Street Gate and includes the well preserved base of a monastic wayside cross. This gritstone base measures 1.05m by 0.7m with a height of 0.3m. The approximately centrally placed socket hole has dimensions of 0.31m by 0.2m with a maximum depth of 0.18m. It is situated on slightly elevated ground and is one of a group adjacent to the medieval monastic road known as Mastiles Lane. This routeway is associated with the nearby abbey at Coverham and it is thought to have linked the abbey with its grange farms in the area.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number: 24471

Legacy System: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Raistrick, A , Malham, (1947), 13
Other
Dr. A Raistrick, (1962)

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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.