Wayside cross in St Peter's churchyard, Flushing

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.

This wayside cross in St Peter's churchyard in Flushing has survived well and is a good example of a wheel headed cross. It has an unusual incised figure of Christ motif. Its reuse as a pivot stone for a threshing machine in the 19th century and its subsequent removal and re-erection in the churchyard, illustrates well the changing attitudes to religion and their impact on the local landscape since the medieval period.

Details

The monument includes a medieval wayside cross situated in St Peter's churchyard, Flushing, on the south coast of west Cornwall. The wayside cross, which is Listed Grade II, is visible as an upright shaft of granite with a round or `wheel' head, measuring 0.77m in overall height. The head measures 0.61m high by 0.63m wide and is 0.26m thick. The principal faces are orientated east-west. Both principal faces are decorated. The east face bears an incised figure of Christ, set low down on the head, and extending onto the shaft. The figure has outstretched arms, extending to the lower edge of the cross-head, and is wearing a tunic; it appears to be without feet. There is an incised line around the outer edge of the head on this face. The west face bears a relief Latin cross, the lower limb extending down the length of the shaft, and a wide bead around the outer edge of the head. At the neck of the shaft on the lower limb of the cross motif is a 0.07m square brass socket, which is 0.08m deep. The shaft measures 0.16m high by 0.44m wide and is 0.26m thick. The shaft is set in a sub-rectangular area of concrete. This wayside cross was found in 1891, in a pigsty on Porloe Farm, 1.25km north east of St Peter's Church. It had been in use as the socket stone for a threshing machine. It was removed by the Rev Forbes Savage who had it re- erected in the churchyard at St Peter's. The metalled surface of the footpath to the north and east of the cross and the wooden post to the south fall within the cross's protective margin and 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:

29226

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Langdon, A G, Old Cornish Crosses, (1896)

Other
Title: 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Map; SW 83; Pathfinder Series 1366 Source Date: 1984 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Consulted 1995, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN No. 18672.01,

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