Hightown Cross on Alt Road, 60m south east of Hightown Station

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 Hightown is one of an important series of crosses surrounding the old parish church at Sefton and lying on the routes taken by funeral processions to that burial ground from surrounding villages. The plinth of the cross survives well under the brickwork of a modern garden wall. The wall and the surface of the pavement are not included in the scheduling but the ground beneath is included.

Details

The monument includes a wayside cross on Alt Road in Hightown. The cross was placed on an old route from the estuary of the River Alt to Sefton where there was a burial ground for the district. The cross is now set into the garden wall of Cross House and the medieval plinth has been incorporated into the brickwork. The sandstone base block has been replaced and a modern cross shaft and head has been erected on it. The base plinth has two steps measuring 1.3m and 1m respectively. These have been trimmed off in front of the road and the rest buried back in the wall. The modern work dates to c.1880. The brick wall and the surface of the pavement are not included in the scheduling but the ground beneath is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

27616

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other

End of official list entry

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