Three wayside crosses in St Julitta's churchyard

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 three medieval wayside crosses in St Julitta's churchyard survive well. The original location of the Trewalder Cross is recorded, possibly having marked a route within the parish to the church. The Rectory Cross probably also marked a major route through Cornwall. The Rectory cross-head bears unusual decoration with the five bosses, sometimes found on churchyard crosses. Both this cross and the Trewalder Cross have projections at the neck, a rare feature found on some crosses in north Cornwall. Their removal into the churchyard and re-erection there early in the 20th century demonstrates well the changing attitudes to religion and their impact on the local landscape since the medieval period.

Details

The monument includes three medieval wayside crosses situated to the south of the church in St Julitta's churchyard, Lanteglos. One wayside cross, the Rectory cross head, is located on the north side of the footpath through the churchyard; the other two, the Trewalder Cross and the Rectory Cross are on the south side of this footpath. The Rectory cross-head survives as a round `wheel' head set on a modern granite base. The overall height of the monument is 0.74m. The principal faces are orientated north-south. The head measures 0.62m in diameter and is 0.1m thick. Both principal faces bear a relief equal limbed cross with expanded ends to the limbs, with a narrow bead around the outer edge of the head. There is a central rounded projection or boss at the intersection of the limbs of the cross motif, and another four rounded bosses, one in the space between each limb of the cross motif. Immediately below the head, at the neck are two small rounded projections, one on either side of the shaft. The short section of shaft is cemented into a granite boulder. This base measures 1.19m east-west by 0.82m north-south and is 0.12m high. This cross was first recorded on a rocky island in a fishpond at Lanteglos Rectory. In 1877 it was mounted on top of the Castle Goff early Christian memorial stone, which was also in the Rectory grounds and is the subject of a separate scheduling. Some time later it was removed from the memorial stone and moved into the churchyard. In 1997 the cross was mounted on a new base. The Trewalder Cross is located on the south side of the footpath opposite the Rectory cross-head. It survives as an upright granite shaft with a round `wheel' head mounted in a rectangular base. The overall height of the cross is 0.75m. The head measures 0.47m wide by 0.28m thick. The principal faces are orientated north-south and both bear a relief equal limbed cross with expanded ends to the limbs. The shaft measures 0.29m wide by 0.26m thick and is mounted on a granite base. The base measures 1.24m east-west by 1.13m north-south and is 0.10m high. This cross was found at Trewalder, 1.5km to the west of Lanteglos church. It stood on a hedge at a corner of a field, and was moved to the opposite hedge when the road was widened. In 1912 it was moved into the churchyard. The Rectory Cross on the south side of the foot-path survives as an upright granite shaft with a round `wheel' head; its overall height is 1.55m. The head measures 0.52m wide and 0.23m thick. The principal faces are orientated north- south and both bear a relief equal limbed cross, a narrow bead running around the outer edge of the head. The shaft measures 0.4m wide by 0.25m thick. This cross was first recorded in 1858 in the Rectory gardens, It was stated that the cross had been removed from the highway, probably the A39, a major ancient and modern route into Cornwall from the east. The metalled surface of the footpath between the crosses, the flat gravestone to the north of the Trewalder Cross, the chest tomb to the south of the Rectory Cross, the chest tomb to the the west, the wooden bench on its concrete base to the east, and the cement gutter or drain to the north of the Rectory cross-head, where they fall within the monument's protective margin, 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.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

30449

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Preston-Jones, A, Attwell, D, The Rectory Cross-head at Lanteglos by Camelford, (1997)
Langdon, A G, Stone Crosses in East Cornwall, (1996)
Langdon, A G, Stone Crosses in East Cornwall, (1996)
Langdon, A G, Stone Crosses in East Cornwall, (1996)
Langdon, A G, Old Cornish Crosses, (1896)
Langdon, A G, Old Cornish Crosses, (1896)
Langdon, A G, Old Cornish Crosses, (1896)

Other
Title: 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Map; SX 08/18: Pathfinder Series 1325 Source Date: 1986 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry