Ganarew Cross

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.

Ganarew Cross is a good example of a medieval standing cross, with a square stepped base and a square to octagonal socket stone. It is believed to stand in or near its original position at the junction of the old Ross to Monmouth Road and the lane to St Swithin's Church. The cross is located 150m from the parish church of St Swithin, where there is a further standing cross in the churchyard. While most of Ganarew Cross has survived from medieval times, its subsequent restoration has demonstrated its continued function as a public monument from medieval times to the present day.

Details

The monument includes a standing stone cross, located approximately 18m to the east of Cross cottage on the north side of the Ross to Monmouth Road, at the point where the road to St Swithin's Church branches off to the west. The cross is of stepped form, and is principally medieval in date. The monument includes the base of two steps and a socket stone, the shaft, the knop and the head.

The steps are square in plan and are constructed of sandstone blocks. The lower step is almost totally buried under soil and vegetation but is known to extend at least 0.15m on each side beyond the top step, which measures 0.97m in diameter by 0.19m high. The socket stone measures 0.61m square at the base and rises through chamfered corners to an octagon on the upper surface. It is 0.3m high. The shaft is set into the top of the socket stone. It is square at the top and the base and octagonal in section in the middle. It is 0.16m in diameter and 2.6m high, and terminates in a square knop.

The knop serves as a platform for the plain Latin cross head. The shaft, knop and head are all modern additions. The full height of the cross is approximately 3.9m.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 1 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:

29862

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Watkins, A, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists Field Club. in Herefordshire Wayside and Town Crosses, (1917), 253

End of official list entry

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