Reasons for Designation
Boundary stones have a long history of use in the definition of the extent of
land holdings, especially in places where the boundary was most contentious or
less well defined by other features. The church was one of the earliest users
of single marker stones to delineate the extent of their holdings. The very
earliest examples, dating from the 6th and 7th centuries AD, were used to
define sanctified areas such as the extent of graveyards or the bounds of a
monastic site. Subsequently in the medieval period they were used to mark more
extensive ecclesiastical holdings. They are important monuments which often
provide our only source of information about past territorial divisions of the
landscape. Boundary stones were once more common than they are today and are
frequently referred to in medieval and post medieval documents, but most were
simple and undecorated. Single decorated boundary stones survive today in
certain areas, but groups of well preserved decorated stones like those on
Callaly Moor, designed to be closely set along a boundary are rare. The group
of stones on Callaly Moor date from between AD 1050 and AD 1250 and are the
only known group in Northumberland, paralleled elsewhere by only three
examples in Yorkshire, Humberside and Lincolnshire, marking ecclesiastical
sanctuaries.
Details
The monument includes a decorated boundary stone of medieval date situated on
the corner of Old Thrunton Woods; it is one of a group of four in the area.
The stone, composed of local grey/brown limestone, is 0.2m thick and measures
1.5m high by 0.4m across. On the west face there is a carving of a splayed
armed cross and on the eastern face there is a deeply incised crude straight
armed cross. The form of both crosses indicates that they date to the 11th or
12th centuries AD. This stone, along with three others, is thought to mark
the limits of an area of land at Thrunton which was donated to Brinkburn
Priory in the mid 13th century. On such an area of featureless, but well used,
moorland some form of artificial boundary marker may have been required.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
20987
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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.
End of official list entry
