Medieval cross 30m north east of St Martin's Church

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 medieval cross 30m north east of St Martin's Church is a well-preserved and almost complete example of a churchyard cross standing in its original position to the north east of the church.

Details

The monument includes a medieval cross in St Martin's churchyard at Bremhill, a small estate village set on a north east facing slope to the east of Chippenham. The cross comprises a square base set on a plinth 1.4m across. The four top corners of the base are partly chamfered and moulded to form an octagon. The shaft, which rises from a socket in the base, is octagonal and tapers slightly from the base where it is 0.35m in diameter. The shaft is surmounted by a small square sundial, topped with a ball, the entire structure being approximately 3.65m high. The cross is Listed Grade II. The sundial is not original and was probably placed there in the early years of the 19th century by the Revd William Bowles, who found it at Grange Farm. He records that the original cross head was found broken and buried at the base in the late 18th century. It was set up in the churchyard at the time but is now lost. The village cross 60m to the NNE is the subject of a separate scheduling.

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:

34185

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Bowles, W L, The Parochial history of Bremhill, (1828), 251
Marsh, A E W, A History of the Borough and Town of Calne, (1903), 219-222

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