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, 5m south of the porch of St Leonard's Church is a
particularly well-preserved example, although moved from its original position
nearby in 1934. The marks of an attempt to fell the cross, probably during
the Reformation of the 16th century, are very unusual, especially as the head
was successfully removed from further up the shaft. The present head is an
unusually accurate restoration.
Details
This monument includes a free-standing granite cross of 14th or 15th century
date situated in the churchyard, south of the porch of St Leonard's Church. It
is Listed Grade II. The monument survives as a tapering octagonal granite
shaft, 2.17m high, leaded into a socketed octagonal base. The four oblique
faces of the shaft run out to a square section between 0.23m and 0.35m from
the bottom. Constructed from a single piece of granite, the base is a maximum
of 0.45m high and 0.93m across the flat sides of the octagon. Turf obscures
any foundations. The original head, which is 0.76m high from the surviving
shaft and 0.57m across its arms, was replaced by a granite one in 1934. The
arms of the head are octagonal in section, flared out at the terminals. An
important feature of the shaft is evidence for attempted felling, on its south
side, at 1.38m from its base. This takes the form of apparent axe scars at an
angle of about five degrees to the horizontal. This could have taken place
during the 16th century, when religious iconoclasm was at its height. It is
common for crosses to have been successfully felled at this level.
The modern path surfaces, where they fall within the cross's 2m protective
margin, are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them 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.
