Tregatheral Cross in St Juliot's churchyard, 10m east of the church

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 Tregatheral Cross has survived reasonably well, and is a good example of a wheel-headed cross. Its original function was probably as a boundary marker between two parishes. Its former reuse as a gatepost and its removal to the churchyard earlier this century demonstrates well the changing attitudes to religion and their impact on the local landscape since the Reformation. This is one of three crosses now present in St Juliot's churchyard.

Details

The monument includes a medieval wayside cross, known as the Tregatheral Cross, situated to the east of the church in St Juliot's churchyard on the north coast of Cornwall. The Tregatheral Cross survives as an upright granite shaft with a round, `wheel' head set in a rectangular base. The overall height of the monument is 1.65m. The principal faces are orientated east-west. The head measures 0.4m high by 0.5m wide and is 0.12m thick. Both principal faces bear a relief Latin cross, the lower limb extending down the top of the shaft. At the intersection of the limbs is a 0.02m diameter shallow hole. The shaft measures 1.03m high by 0.38m wide and is 0.15m thick. On the south side of the shaft there is a 0.02m diameter hole, 0.03m deep, 0.55m above the base, a result of the former reuse of the cross as a gatepost. The modern base measures 1.09m north-south by 0.99m east-west and is 0.22m thick. This base consists of blocks of granite and slate cemented together to form a base for the cross. The shaft is cemented into the base. The Tregatheral Cross is located to the east of the church. It was discovered in 1952 in use as a gatepost, its head buried in the ground, at an old mill on Tregatheral Farm, Minster. Tregatheral Farm is 2.5km to the south west of St Juliot's Church. The cross was brought by the churchwarden and re-erected in January 1952 in its present position in St Juliot's churchyard. This wayside cross probably marked the parish boundary between Lesnewth and Minster. Tregatheral Farm is close to this boundary. The grave with its granite headstone and kerb surround to the east of the cross and the grave with its headstone to the south west where they lie within the protective margin 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:

28450

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Langdon, A G, Stone Crosses of North Cornwall, (1992)

Other
Title: 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Map; SX 08/18: Pathfinder Series 1325 Source Date: 1986 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Consulted 1995, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 651.1,

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