Medieval wayside cross at Tregaminion

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.

The wayside cross at Tregaminion has survived well and is close to its original position. It is a good example of a wheel-headed wayside cross, bearing a distinctive and unusual style of cross motif on its west face. It remains as a marker on the way to the church within the parish demonstrating well the role of wayside crosses and showing the longevity of many roads still in use.

Details

The monument includes a medieval wayside cross and a protective margin around it, situated in the hamlet of Tregaminion, east of Lizard Town, at a junction on the road leading to Landewednack parish church, near the southern end of the Lizard peninsula in south west Cornwall. The cross survives as an upright granite shaft with a round `wheel' head, standing to an overall height of 1.31m. The head measures 0.43m high by 0.52m wide and 0.21 thick. The west face bears a low-relief equal-limbed Latin cross, with a narrow raised bead around the outer edge of the head, the bead continuing down the outer edges of the shaft. The lower limb of the cross motif is extended as a narrow band down the length of the shaft by two incised lines. The east face of the head bears a low-relief equal-limbed cross with widely expanded ends; the upper edge of the upper limb has been truncated by a slight fracture along the top edge of the head. The rectangular-section shaft stands 0.88m high and measures 0.37m wide, tapering in thickness from 0.21m at the base to 0.16m at the neck. The shaft is undecorated on the east face and edges. On the east face, just below the head, is a 0.04m diameter hole, about 0.04m deep, at the centre of a wide transverse groove marking the junction between the head and shaft. The cross is situated on a grass verge on the east side of a modern minor road junction at Tregaminion, to the east of Lizard Town. This junction is at the edge of the former Cross Common, at the focus of routes from the western parts of Landewednack parish to the church 380m along the lane to the ENE. Although the cross is known to have been moved short distances on several occasions, its present location is considered to be at the original junction. The metalled surface of the modern road passing to the west of the cross but within the area of the protective margin, and the modern signpost to the south of the cross are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath is included.

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:

24312

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Title: 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Map; SW 61/71 Source Date: 1986 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
consulted 1994, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 10416,

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