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
oldest and most basic form of standing cross is the monolith, a stone shaft
often set directly in the ground without a base. 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. Where the cross-head survives it may
take a variety of forms, from a lantern-like structure to a crucifix; the more
elaborate examples date from the 15th century. Much less common than stepped
crosses are spire-shaped crosses, often composed of three or four receding
stages with elaborate architectural decoration and/or sculptured figures; the
most famous of these include the Eleanor crosses, erected by Edward I at the
stopping places of the funeral cortege of his wife, who died in 1290. Also
uncommon are the preaching crosses which were built in public places from the
13th century, typically in the cemeteries of religious communities and
cathedrals, market places and wide thoroughfares; they include a stepped base,
buttresses supporting a vaulted canopy, in turn carrying either a shaft and
head or a pinnacled spire. Standing crosses contribute significantly to our
understanding of medieval customs, both secular and religious, and to our
knowledge of medieval parishes and settlement patterns. All crosses which
survive as standing monuments, especially those which stand in or near their
original location, are considered worthy of protection.
The churchyard cross in St Michael's churchyard, Porthilly, has survived well.
It forms a good example of a four-holed wheel headed cross. It is of unusual
design, in that the limbs are straight; there are only two similar examples of
this style of cross motif in west Cornwall. The cross maintains its original
function as a churchyard cross despite being re-located within the churchyard
in the 19th century.
Details
The monument includes a medieval churchyard cross situated to the south of the
church in the churchyard of St Michael, Porthilly, also known as St Michael
Rock, by the Camel estuary in north Cornwall.
The churchyard cross is visible as an upright granite shaft with a round or
`wheel' head. The cross measures 0.96m in overall height. The head is 0.85m
wide and 0.28m thick. The head is fully pierced by four holes creating an
equal limbed cross with widely expanded ends to the limbs, linked by an outer
ring. The ends of the limbs extend slightly beyond the edge of the ring. The
irregularly shaped holes have been worked from both faces creating a wide hole
with the centre pierced through. There is a narrow bead around the outer edge
of the head on both principal faces. The north principal face has a 0.15m
diameter circular raised boss at the intersection of the limbs; the south
principal face is plain. There is a 0.05m diameter cement filled hole on the
west side of the head. The shaft measures 0.23m high by 0.46m wide at the
base tapering slightly to 0.44m at the neck, and is 0.28m thick at the base
tapering to 0.25m at the neck. The shaft has a 0.07m wide bead on all four
corners. Originally all four sides of the shaft would have been decorated, but
in 1896 when the historian Langdon illustrated this cross the only visible
decoration was some interlace pattern on the north and east sides of the
shaft. The cross is set on a rectangular stone base which is completely
covered by a layer of turf.
This churchyard cross was situated on the west side of the church, but was
later moved to its present position opposite the south porch. It has been
suggested that the cross head and shaft are part of the cross shaft and base
in Padstow churchyard. The historian Ellis in 1959 dated the cross to the late
12th century. More recent studies of other four holed crosses have dated them
to the tenth century. Both this and the interlace decoration on the shaft
suggest that this cross is also of tenth century date.
The two graves with their chest tombs to the east of the cross but which fall
within its protective margin are excluded from the scheduling, although the
ground beneath is included. This cross is Listed Grade II.
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.
