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Title: Old Crosses and Lychgates
Author: Aymer Vallance
Release Date: November 27, 2017 [EBook #56059]
Language: English
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OLD CROSSES
AND LYCHGATES
[Illustration:
_Frontispiece_
1. NORTHAMPTON
ELEANOR CROSS]
OLD CROSSES
AND LYCHGATES
BY
AYMER VALLANCE
[Illustration]
LONDON
B·T·BATSFORD, L^{TD} 94, HIGH HOLBORN
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT
THE DARIEN PRESS, EDINBURGH
PREFACE
The genesis of this book was an article on "Churchyard Crosses,"
written by request for the _Burlington Magazine_, and published
therein in September 1918. It was at a time when the hearts of the
British people were being stirred to their innermost depths, for the
European War was yet raging, and the question of the most suitable
form of memorials of our heroic dead, sacrificed day by day, was
continually present to us. Nor, though hostilities happily ceased
when the Armistice was agreed upon within a few weeks thereafter,
has the subject of commemorating the fallen on that account declined
in interest and importance. Nay, its claims are, if anything, more
insistent than ever, for, the vital necessity of concentrating our
energies on the attainment of victory having passed away, the nation
is now at leisure "to pour out its mourning heart in memorials that
will tell the generations to come how it realised the bitterness and
glory of the years of the Great War." Such being the case, it was
hoped that it might prove useful to gather together a collection
of examples of old crosses and lychgates, as affording the most
appropriate form of monuments for reproduction or adaptation to
the needs of the present. Too many of the manifestations of modern
so-called art betray its utter bankruptcy, because having broken with
tradition, it has no resource left but to express itself in wayward
eccentricity and ugly sensationalism, the very antitheses of the
dignified beauty which the following of time-hallowed precedent alone
can impart.
To obtain a sufficiently representative series there has been no
occasion to go beyond the confines of England and Wales. Within those
limits a very large number of types is to be found, every one of
which is illustrated in the following pages. I do not pretend to have
treated the subject exhaustively, but I do claim that never before has
so manifold a range of crosses been depicted within the compass of a
single volume; nor has so systematic an analysis and classification
of the various types of crosses, tracing the course of their historic
evolution, been attempted by any previous writer in the English
language. My classification, based solely upon the study of anatomical
form and structure, is original, and presents the subject in an
entirely new aspect.
Without the generous co-operation of friends and strangers alike, my
task would have been impossible. A considerable amount of material had
been collected by my friend, the late Mr Herbert Batsford, and of this
I have gladly availed myself. To my dear and revered friend, the late
Sir William St John Hope, I, for one, am more indebted archæologically
than I can find words to express. No sooner did he learn that I
had undertaken this work than he remarked to me, "You must quote
documents," and, by way of giving practical effect to his advice, he
offered, with his wonted liberality, to place at my disposal some
important notes he had made from the original accounts of the royal
expenditure on the Eleanor Memorial Crosses. These notes, to my
profound regret, I never received, because St John Hope, being shortly
afterwards stricken with his fatal illness, had not the opportunity
to look them up for me. My pages in consequence are the poorer for
lack of his invaluable material. I have, however, been able to quote
in full the historic description of Nevill's cross from the _Rites
of Durham_ (Surtees Society, 1902), of which St John Hope was Joint
Editor.
Among my innumerable obligations I desire to record my indebtedness to
the following for facilities given, and for help in divers ways:--
The authorities and assistants of the British Museum, of the Victoria
and Albert Museum, and of the Guildhall Museum; the President and
Council of the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Royal Institute
of British Architects, the St Paul's Ecclesiological Society; the
_Burlington Magazine_, the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, the Provost
of Eton (who kindly went to Oxford expressly to examine the Jews'
cross for me), Mr F. T. S. Houghton (who journeyed from Birmingham to
Halesowen in order to photograph the remains of the cross-head at the
latter place), and Dr F. J. Allen, of Cambridge (for photographs and
much valuable information); also to Miss E. K. Prideaux, the Rev. G.
C. Richards, F.S.A., the Revv. F. and F. R. P. Sumner, and C. Eveleigh
Woodruff, Major C. A. Markham, and Messrs Harold Brakspear, F.S.A.,
G. C. Druce, F.S.A., Reginald A. Smith, F.S.A., J. H. Allchin, and H.
Elgar, Maidstone Museum; Oxley Grabham and W. Watson, York Museum; H.
St George Gray, Taunton Museum; Frank Woolnough, F.R.Met.S., Ipswich
Museum; Richard Scriven, George Clinch, F.G.S., F.S.A.(Scot.), W.
Plomer Young, P. M. C. Kermode, G. Granville Buckley, M.D., F.S.A.,
F. H. Crossley, F. E. Howard, Arthur Hussey, F. C. Elliston-Erwood,
Robert Richmond, George H. Widdows, F.R.I.B.A., R. P. Stone, Oswald
Stone, P. Bedford, Alfred Watkins; and last, but not least, my
publisher, Mr Harry Batsford and his assistant, Mr A. W. Haggis, whose
constant and ready co-operation has lightened many hours of laborious
research in museum libraries and of industry at High Holborn.
AYMER VALLANCE.
AYMERS, LYNSTED,
_February 1920_.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION 1
II. MONOLITH CROSSES 27
III. THE SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE 42
IV. SPIRE-SHAPED OR ELEANOR CROSSES 94
V. PREACHING CROSSES 113
VI. MARKET CROSSES 125
VII. UNCLASSIFIED VARIETIES 158
VIII. LYCHGATES 164
BIBLIOGRAPHY 191
INDEX 195
TOPOGRAPHICAL LIST OF SUBJECTS ILLUSTRATED
CHAPTERS I. to VII.--CROSSES
Subject. Source. Illustration Page
No. Referred
to in
Text.
Aldborough Photo, Frith & Co. 193 158
Alphington _Del._, J. Buckler 199 161
Ampney Crucis Photo, Rev. F. Sumner 97}
" " Rev. F. R. P. Sumner 98}
" " F. T. S. Houghton 99} 50
Axbridge _Gentleman's Magazine_ 148 128
Bakewell Engraving by F. L. Chantrey, R.A. 39 32
Bedale Photo, Frith & Co. 119 54
Bewcastle " Gibson & Sons 3}
" " " 25}
" " " 26} 32
Bingley " Frith & Co. 182 125
Bisley " " 197 163
Bishop's Lydeard " Dr F. J. Allen 20} 42,44,
} 46
Blakemere _Del._, J. Buckler 15 13
Blanchland Abbey Photo, Gibson & Sons 44 41
Bleadon " Dr F. J. Allen 89 48
Bonsall " Frith & Co. 120 54
Bristol Engraving by S. and N. Buck, 1734 9 123
Brigstock Photo, B.T.B. 122 54
Bungay " " 187 157
Castle Combe _Del._, J. Buckler 173}
" Photo, Frith & Co. 174}
" _Del._, W. G. Allen 175}
" " " 176} 157
Carlton Peart Collection, R.I.B.A. 63 43
Charlton Mackerel Photo, Frith & Co. 19 42,44
Charing Cross, Engraving by Ralph Agas, 1792, Crace 135}
nr. London Collection, British Museum }
" " Crowle Pennant Collection, British 136}
Museum }
" " Crace Collection, British Museum 137} 108
Cheadle Photo, W. Watson 35 37
Cheapside Photo, B.T.B., Guildhall Museum 130}
Crosses, London }
" " " " " 131}
" " Water Colour Drawing at Society of 132}
Antiquaries, after Mural Painting }
at Cowdray }
" " Drawing in Pepysian Library, 133}
Cambridge }
" " Photo, G. Clinch, from Contemporary 134}
Woodcut } 102
Cheddar " Frith & Co. 165 146
Cheshunt, Waltham _Vetusta Monumenta_ 127}
" _Del._, J. Buckler 128}
" _Vetusta Monumenta_ 129} 95,101
Chester, High Pen Drawing by Randle Holme, Harleian
MSS. 2073, British Museum 24 24,158
Chichester _Del._, J. Coney }
(lent by F. H. Crossley) 11}
" Photo, J. Valentine 161}
" Print, Victoria and Albert Museum 162}
" " 163} 137
Child's Wickham Photo, B.T.B. 7 54
Coventry Dugdale's _Warwickshire_ 8 111
Cricklade Photo, Rev. F. R. P. Sumner 116}
Churchyard }
" Town Cross " Rev. F. Sumner 117} 54
Croxden _Del._, J. Buckler 88 47
Crowcombe Photochrom Co. 118 46,54
Cumnor _Del._, J. Buckler 59 43
Derwen Photo, Aymer Vallance 110}
" " " 111}
" " " 112} 52
Doncaster _Vetusta Monumenta_ 191 158
Dorchester _Del._, J. Buckler 65 44
Doulting Dr F. J. Allen 74}
" " " 75}
" " " 76} 43,44
Drayton _Del._, J. Buckler 54 46
Dundry " J. K. Colling 78 43
Dunster Photo, J. Valentine 177 156
Elstow Peart Collection, R.I.B.A 194 158
Eyam Photo, J. Valentine 27}
" " " 28} 32
Eynsham _Del._, J. Buckler, 1820 50 45
Fletton Print, Victoria and Albert Museum 40}
" " " " 41} 37
Geddington _Vetusta Monumenta_ 124}
" Photochrom Co. 125} 95,96
Glastonbury Hearne's _Antiquities_ 164 138
Gloucester _Vetusta Monumenta_ 138 108
Gosforth Lysons' _Magna Britannia_ 33 34
Great Malvern Photo, Frith & Co. 16 13
" Grimsby _Del._, J. Buckler 49 45
Halesowen Photo, F. T. S. Houghton 82 47
Hardley Knight's _Norfolk Antiquities_, 1892 18 13
Headington _Del._, J. Buckler 69}
" Photo, H. Taunt 70} 44
Hedon Peart Collection, R.I.B.A. 79 46
Hereford, _Del._, J. Buckler 72}
Whitefriars }
" " Photochrom Co. 73}
" } 44
Preaching Cross Photo, Frith & Co. 143 122
Hexham " Gibson & Sons 42 37
Higham Ferrers Markham's _Old Crosses of 55 46
Northamptonshire_
Holbech Engraving by W. Stukeley 10 123
Horsington _Del._, after J. Buckler 53 46
Ipswich _Diary of Sir James Thornhill_ 169}
" Photo, Frank Woolnough, F.R.Met.S. 170}
" Aquatint by Geo. Frost, 1812 171}
" Photo, Frank Woolnough, F.R.Met.S. 172} 152
Irtlingborough Markham's _Old Crosses of 56 46
Northamptonshire_
Irton Lysons' Magna Britannia 32 34
Iron Acton Photo, Rev. F. Sumner 144 122
Keyingham, Yorks. Peart Collection, R.I.B.A. 64 44
" " (from " " 80 47
Lincolnshire)
Lanteglos Juxta Photo, Frith & Co. 94}
Fowey }
" " " F. T. S. Houghton 95} 49
Leicester Nichol's Leicestershire 14 152
Leighton Buzzard Engraving in Lyson's Bedfordshire 146}
" _Del._, J. Buckler 147} 124
Lichfield, Dean Old Engraving, Victoria and Albert 154 142
Dentons Museum
London, (see Cheapside, _supra_)
West Cheap
" (see Charing Cross, _supra_)
Charing Cross
" Engraved from Drawing in Pepysian 141}
Paul's Cross Library, Cambridge }
" " Panel Painting by John Gipkyn at 142}113,120
Society of Antiquaries
Lymm Photo, Frith & Co. 183 157
Madley " Alfred Watkins, F.R.P.S. 101}
" " " 102} 51
Maidstone " H. Elgar, from Drawing by 167 146
E. Pretty
Malmesbury " Dr G. Granville Buckley, F.S.A. 156}
" Old Print, Victoria and Albert Museum 157}
" " " " 158} 133
Maughold, Photo, J. Valentine 86}
Isle of Man }
" " " Frith & Co. 87} 46,48
Mawgan-in-Pyder Photo, J. Valentine 38 37
(Lanherne
House Nunnery)
Mawgan-in-Pyder Lysons' _Magna Britannia_ 106}
(Churchyard }
Cross) }
Mawgan-in-Pyder Photo, Frith & Co. 107}
(Churchyard }
Cross) } 50
Mildenhall " B.T.B. 12 154
Milverton, _Del._, J. Buckler, 1841 (_per_ H. 185 156
Somerset St. G. Gray)
Mitton " " 194}
" " " 195} 161
Mitchel Troy " " 57 45
Nether Stowey " " 1837 (_per_ H. 184 156
St. G. Gray)
Newmarket, Photo, F. T. S. Houghton 90}
Flintshire }
" " " " 91} 48
Northampton, " H. Cooper & Son 1}
Eleanor Cross }
" " Britton's _Architectural Antiquities_ 126} 95,98
Northampton, Water Colour in British Museum (MSS. 150 142
Old Market Dept.), copy of Bridges'
Cross _Northamptonshire_
North Petherton _Del._, J. K. Colling 77 42
North Hinksey _Del._, J. Buckler 83}
" " " 84}
" " " 85} 48
Norwich Blomfield's _Antiquities of Norfolk_ 153} 138
(T. Sheldrake)
Nottingham Stretton MSS. 186 157
Oakham Photo, B.T.B. 178}
" " " 179} 156
Ombersley " Frith & Co. 66}
" _Instrumenta Ecclesiastica_ 67}
" " " 68} 44
Oundle Markham's _Old Crosses of 168 156
Northamptonshire_
Oxford, Photo, B.T.B. 21}
Jews' Cross }
" " " 22}
" " " 23} 19
Paul's Cross, (see London, Paul's Cross, _supra_)
London
Pocklington Old Print, Victoria and Albert Museum 114}
" " " " 115} 50,54
Poulton-le-Fylde Photo, Sir B. Stone 6 24
Raglan _Del._, J. Buckler 71 44
Raunds Markham's _Old Crosses of 45 42
Northamptonshire_
Repton Photo, Photochrom Co. 123 54
Ripley " Aymer Vallance 196 162
Rocester _Del._, J. Buckler, 1832 47}
" " " 48} 45
Rothersthorp Markham's _Old Crosses of 46 47
Northamptonshire_
Salisbury _Del._, J. C. Buckler 159}
" Photo, Photochrom Co. 160} 137
Sandbach Dr Ormerod's _Cheshire_ 29}
" " " 30}
" J. Valentine & Co. 31} 32
Shepton Mallet Photo, Dr F. J. Allen 151}
" Gentleman's Magazine_, 1781 152} 128
Sherburn-in-Elmet G. B. Bulmer, _Architectural Studies
in Yorkshire_, 1887 113 46,53
Somersby _Instrumenta Ecclesiastica_ 81 47
Somerton Photo, Frith & Co. 166 146
St Columb Major " " 37 37
St Ives, Cornwall " " 96 50
St Michael's _Del._, J. Buckler 104}
Mount }
" " " " 105} 52
St Donats Photo, Aymer Vallance 108}
" _Del._, J. Buckler 109} 46,52
Stalbridge Photo, R. Wilkinson 58} 43,44,
} 46
Stanway _Del._, J. Buckler 60 43
Steeple Ashton " " 121 54
Stevington Peart Collection, R.I.B.A. 17 43
Stringston, _Architectural Association Sketch Book_ 5 43
Somersetshire
Swaffham Photo, B.T.B. 188 157
Taunton Drawing in British Museum, King's 155 142
Collection
Thatcham _Del._, J. Buckler 61 43
Tottenham Old Engraving, 1788 139}
" " Victoria and Albert Museum 140} 111
Tyberton Photo, Alfred Watkins, F.R.P.S. 100}
" " " 103} 51
Wakefield _Del._, J. Buckler 190 157
Waltham Cross, (see Cheshunt, _supra_)
Cheshunt
Waterperry, _Del._, J. Buckler 4 43
Oxfordshire
Whalley Photo, Gibson & Sons 34 37
Wells Sime's _Map of Wells_, British Museum, 149 125
King's Collection
Wheston, Engraving by F. L. Chantrey, R.A. 92}
Tideswell }
" " Photo, F. Chapman 93} 49
Whitford " W. Marriot Dodson 36 35
Wicken _Del._, J. Buckler 62 43,4
Winchester " " 145 124
Witney Photo, Henry Taunt 13 156
Wolverhampton, Old Print, Victoria and Albert Museum 2 37
Dane's Cross
Wonford, _Del._, Miss E. K. Prideaux 198 161}
St Loye's }
Woodstock Paul Sandby, 1777, _The Antiquarian 189 157
Repertory_
Wooler Scott's _Border Antiquities_ 43 37
Wymondham Photo, B.T.B. 180} 156
" " " 181}
Yarnton _Del._, J. Buckler, 1821 51} 44,45
" " " 52}
CHAPTER VIII.--LYCHGATES
Anstey _Del._, J. Buckler 210 167
Ashwell B.T.B. 215}
" " 216}
" " 217}
" " 218}165,167
Beckenham Album at R.I.B.A. 205}
" _Del._, J. Buckler 206}
" _Spring Gardens' Sketch Book_ 207}165,166
Boughton, _Del._, J. Buckler 231 168
Monchelsea
Bray Photo, Aymer Vallance 202}
" Peart Collection, R.I.B.A. 203} 164
Chalfont, Photo 204 164
St Giles
Chiddingfold " W. Plomer Young 227 164
Clodock _Del._, J. Buckler 228 167
Clun Photo, F. H Crossley 235 164
Goring " Henry Taunt 226 165
Hartfield F. Frith & Co. 201 164
Hayes Mills' _History of the Parish of Hayes_200 164,165
Heston J. Drayton Wyatt, Anastatic Drawing 213}
Society }
" _Spring Gardens' Sketch Book_ 214}164,165
Isleham Drawing after J. Buckler 223}
" " " 224}
" " " 225} 167
Lenham Photo, Aymer Vallance 220}
" _Spring Gardens' Sketch Book_ 221}
" " 222}165,167
Llandrillo-yn-RhosPhoto, F. Frith & Co. 233 168
Llanfillo " P. Bedford 229 167
Morwenstow _A. P. S. Dictionary_ 219 165
Monnington-on-Wye Photo 237 167
Pattingham Shaw's _History of Staffordshire_ 234 167
Pulborough Source unknown 236 167
Rustington _Del._, J. Buckler 230 168
Staple _Instrumenta Ecclesiastica_ 208}
" " " 209} 166
Tal-y Llyn Photo, Sir B. Stone 232 168
West Wickham Thomas Garratt, _Transactions of 211}
St Paul's Ecclesiological }
" Society, Vol. II._ }
_Spring Gardens' Sketch Book_ 212} 167
ADDENDUM.
_Page 9, line 11 from the bottom, after_ "extant" _add_:--
One example, removed from its site, is in existence. In the collection
of the Kent Archæological Society at the Museum at Maidstone is a much
mutilated head of a churchyard cross found at West Malling. The work,
very rude and uncouth, appears to be of the fourteenth century. On one
side is a crucifixion, unattended, and on one end a single figure,
which may possibly represent St. John Baptist.
OLD CROSSES AND LYCHGATES
I. INTRODUCTION
In pursuance of the Christian policy of instituting an innocent
practice to take the place of each of the old, vicious customs of
heathendom--the substitution of the festival of Christmas for the
former orgies of the Saturnalia is perhaps the best known instance
in point--the Emperor Constantine (324 to 337 A.D.) caused
crosses to be erected along the public ways at various points where
previously had been situated terminal statues. Thence are believed
to have originated the shrines and crucifixes, conspicuous by the
roadside at the entrance of towns and villages in the Catholic
countries of the Continent. Nor throughout the Middle Ages, until the
sixteenth century, when the English people were torn from the unity
of the unreformed faith, was our own country behind any other in its
pious observance of the ancient traditional usage. The reason thereof
is explained by a passage in _Dives et Pauper_, a popular treatise
on the Ten Commandments, which was printed by Wynken de Worde at
Westminster in 1496. The purpose of the erection of standing crosses
is therein expounded as follows:--"For this reason ben Crosses by ye
waye, that whan folke passynge see the Crosse, they sholde thynke on
Hym that deyed on the Crosse, and worshypp Hym above all thynge."
[Illustration: 2. WOLVERHAMPTON
DANES' CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD
MONOLITH TYPE]
[Illustration: 3. BEWCASTLE, CUMBERLAND
MONOLITH TYPE]
[Illustration: 4. WATER PERRY, OXFORDSHIRE]
[Illustration: 5. STRINGSTON, SOMERSETSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS, WITH PLAN
SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE]
[Illustration: 6. POULTON-LE-FYLDE, LANCASHIRE
MARKET CROSS. SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE]
The process of the evolution of the standing cross may be traced
through certain well-defined stages. Its most rudimentary form is
that of the menhir, a vertical monolith rising direct from the ground
(Figs. 2 and 3); next, the shaft is raised on steps, and becomes a
tapering stem, while its head grows on either side into the arms
of a cross (Fig. 16), or expands into a lantern-like ornament,
quadrangular or polygonal on plan, enriched with sculptured figures
and tabernacle work (Figs. 4 and 5). The shaft-on-steps persisted to
the last as the favourite type for churchyard crosses, notwithstanding
the introduction of other varieties. The cross gained greater dignity
by being mounted on an enlarged socket or foot, interposed between
the shaft itself and the steps underneath. Thirdly, the shaft takes
the form of a pinnacle or spire, generally of diminishing tiers
or storeys, the whole crowned with a small cross or finial. To this
type the important group of Eleanor crosses belongs (Figs. 1 and 8).
Hitherto the cross had been simply spectacular and monumental. It
next developed in a utilitarian direction, and became a preaching
cross (Figs. 9 and 10), its lowest storey, formerly closed and solid,
being opened out and made to consist of a ring of standards (with or
without a shaft in the middle), to carry the soaring superstructure.
The last type, the market cross (Figs. 11, 12, 13, and 14), may be
regarded as an expansion of the preaching cross, the latter being
intended to shelter but one occupant, or at any rate only a very small
number, whereas the market cross is designed to shelter many persons.
In the fully matured market cross the whole structure is one organism,
planned as such from the outset; but there are, on the other hand,
some obvious instances of adaptation, where the encircling umbrella
is, as it were, an after-thought, having been built up to and about a
previously existing cross of the shaft-on-steps type. In either case,
however, the result ultimately obtained is identical. A number of
handsome market crosses, principally belonging to the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, were constructed of timber framing, with stone,
slate, or tiled roofs. The latest development was the introduction of
an upper chamber above the open ground-floor stage. But when, later
still, the circular or polygonal plan was abandoned for an oblong plan
in order to provide the utmost accommodation in the upper chamber,
all recognisable resemblance to the structure in the form of its
origin was lost; in a word, the market cross had become extinct, and
had given place instead to the market house or hall.
[Illustration: 7. CHILD'S WICKHAM, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
VILLAGE CROSS. SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE]
[Illustration: 8. COVENTRY, WARWICKSHIRE
ELEANOR CROSS TYPE]
[Illustration: 9. BRISTOL
PREACHING CROSS TYPE]
[Illustration: 10. HOLBECH, LINCOLNSHIRE
PREACHING CROSS TYPE]
It may be assumed that, for the sake of durability, stone would be
the most usual material to choose for the construction of standing
crosses. But there were exceptions, as a memorable incident in the
career of Jeanne d'Arc is sufficient to show. The authority is a
letter from two of Jeanne's contemporaries, Jean and André de Laval,
grandsons of the famous Bertrand de Guesclin. The scene was Selles;
the date 6th June 1428. On that occasion, the maid's horse, a fine
black charger, being brought to the door of her lodging, proved so
restive that he could not be controlled. "Lead him to the Cross,"
said Jeanne. And there he stood as quietly as though he had been
bound, while she mounted. The cross was a wrought-iron one, and was
situated about fifteen paces from the north door of the church. An
historical memorial, this cross might have been standing yet, had not
the surrounding cemetery been cleared and levelled to make a site for
a market place.
Again, standing crosses might be made of wood. Thus, Joan Wither
bequeathed a sum in 1511 for the restoration of the wooden cross
in the hamlet of Reding, in Eboney, Kent; and John Netheway, of
Taunton, Somerset, whose will is dated 4th August 1503, directed his
executors to "make a new crosse of tree in the churchyard of St Mary
Magdalyn, nigh the procession-way"; a provision which is interesting
from another point of view, viz., that it unmistakably connects the
churchyard cross with outdoor processions.
[Illustration: 11. CHICHESTER
THE MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 12. LEICESTER
MARKET CROSS, WITH PLAN]
A phenomenon in regard to churchyard crosses at the present day is the
inequality of their distribution, which, however, must not be taken
as a criterion of their number and situation in former times. Indeed,
their existence was very general; and the fact of their preservation
or destruction depends on local conditions. Some counties, like
Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, and Northamptonshire, for example,
contain numbers, while other counties contain scarcely any at all.
Thus, Charles Fowler, F.R.I.B.A., writing in 1896 concerning the
Diocese of Llandaff, which comprises Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire,
says: "In nearly every churchyard there are remains of a cross of some
kind. These crosses were placed midway between the enclosure entrance
and south porch, to the east of the principal path.... Many of the
steps and bases of these crosses are to be found in the diocese, but
the tops have mostly all disappeared; also very many of the shafts."
On the other hand, in Hertfordshire there are but two specimens, both
incomplete; and again, in Kent, with the exception of the ancient
bases in Folkestone and Teynham churchyards, there is not another
example extant. And yet numbers and numbers of Kentish churchyard
crosses are positively known, through mention of them in wills, to
have been standing in the Middle Ages.
In churchyard crosses a certain feature, occurring more particularly
in the southwestern district of England, has proved somewhat of a
puzzle to archæologists, to wit, the presence of a little niche or
recess (Figs. 15 and 16), sunk in the side of the socket or, more
rarely, in the lower part of the shaft. Instances have been noted
at Wonastow and Raglan, in Monmouthshire; Lydney and Newland, in
Gloucestershire; Blackmere, Brampton Abbots, Colwell, Kingdon, St
Weonards, Whitchurch, and Wigmore, in Herefordshire; and at Broadway
and Great Malvern, in Worcestershire. At the last named (Fig. 16)
the niche is hollowed out in the shaft itself. It has been supposed
that the purpose of the niche was to contain a light; but a much more
probable suggestion, of the late Sir William St John Hope's, is that
the niche was designed as a receptacle for the pyx, enclosing the
Sacred Host, in the course of the Palm Sunday procession.
[Illustration: 13. MILDENHALL, SUFFOLK
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 14. WITNEY, OXFORDSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 15. BLAKEMERE, HEREFORDSHIRE
SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE, WITH NICHE]
[Illustration: 16. GREAT MALVERN, WORCESTERSHIRE
CROSS, WITH NICHE, IN THE PRIORY CHURCHYARD]
[Illustration: 17. STEVINGTON, BEDFORDSHIRE
SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE]
There can be no doubt that, whatever else their uses, churchyard
crosses in mediæval England figured prominently in the ceremonial
of Palm Sunday. So indispensable, indeed, did they become for this
purpose, that it may be taken for granted that no parish was without
one, at any rate of wood, if not of stone. In the Constitutions,
issued in 1229 by William de Bleys, Bishop of Worcester, he ordered
that there should be, in every churchyard of his diocese, "_crux
decens et honesta, vel in cimiterio erecta, ad quam fiet processio
ipso die Palmarum, nisi in alio loco consuevit fieri_."
At Hardley, in Norfolk, Henry Bunn, by will dated 1501, directed that
a cross should be set up in the churchyard for the offering of boughs
on Palm Sunday. It would be interesting if the above named could be
identified with the cross now standing (Fig. 18). The latter, however,
is not only of later date, but is not a churchyard cross at all, being
a secular landmark, dating from 1543. In that year, it is recorded, a
new cross was made, sculptured with the crucifixion on one side, and
the arms of the city of Norwich on the other; and being painted, was
conveyed to Hardley and erected there, "where the Sheriffs of Norwich
yearly do keep a court." The "place," says Francis Blomefield, "was
the extent of the liberties of the city on the River Wensum."
But, to resume, so intimately was the churchyard cross associated
with the Palm Sunday solemnities, that the former is very commonly
referred to in documents as the "Palm Cross." As such the churchyard
cross at Bishop's Stortford is mentioned in the parish accounts for
the year 1525--the same cross which was ultimately demolished in
1643. The Palm Cross is so named in the parish accounts of Morebath,
Devonshire, as late as the year 1572-73. For the rest, it is enough
to cite a number of Kentish wills, in which the churchyard cross
is specifically named the Palm Cross, viz.--at Addington in 1528;
Ashford in 1469; Bidborough in 1524; Boughton-under-Blean in 1559;
Boxley in 1476 and 1524; Eboney; Erith in 1544; Faversham in 1508,
1510, and 1521; Hastingleigh in 1528; Lenham in 1471 (as having then
been newly erected); Lyminge in 1508; Lynsted; Margate in 1521;
Preston-by-Faversham in 1525; Reculver in 1541; Old Romney in 1484;
St Peter's, Sandwich, in 1536; Southfleet in 1478; Strood in 1482;
Wittersham in 1497; and Woolwich in 1499 and 1515.
In some cases the shaft of the churchyard cross is drilled with holes
sloping downward. An instance of this is to be found at Tredington,
in Gloucestershire. Charles Pooley thinks that these holes were for
the affixing of some such object as a scutcheon or a figure. That the
suggestion is not unfeasible is shown by the will of Alice Findred,
widow, who in 1528 left £2 "for making of a stone cross, called a Palm
Cross, with a picture of the Passion of Christ of copper and gilt ...
to be set upon the head of the burial" of her husband and children
in the churchyard of Hastingleigh, Kent. But there is an alternative
explanation of the drilled holes, viz., that they were meant to hold
the stems of flowers or branches for adorning the cross on certain
occasions, _e.g._, Palm Sunday, or at the old Lancashire ceremony
of "flowering," on St John Baptist's Day, 24th June. According to
the eminent ecclesiologist, Dr Daniel Rock, in _The Church of our
Fathers_, it was at the churchyard cross that the outdoor procession
of palms, having wended its way thither, would always halt, and, the
cross itself being wreathed and decked with flowers and branches,
the Blessed Sacrament, solemnly borne in procession, was temporarily
deposited before it upon some suitable throne, while the second
station was being made. This done, the procession reformed and
proceeded to the principal door for the third station, before passing
again within the church.
[Illustration: 18. HARDLEY, NORFOLK
BOUNDARY CROSS]
A certain peculiarity, occasionally to be found in churchyard
crosses, is the scooping out of a cavity or cavities in the base or
steps--cavities resembling nothing so much as the hollows in the
beheading block at the Tower of London. An instance of this feature,
believed to have been designed as a receptacle for offerings, occurs
in the churchyard cross at Bishop's Lydeard (Fig. 20) in the second
step from the lowest one. Possibly the basin-like cavities, which
here and there occur in village and roadside crosses, may have been
meant to hold water or vinegar, to disinfect the coins paid for food
in times of plague, as mentioned below (page 22).
A curious post-Reformation use for churchyard crosses is referred
to by Miss Curtis in _Antiquities of Laugharne and Pendine_, 1871.
The passages are quoted for what they may be worth. At Eglwyscummin,
Carmarthenshire, "there is a cross in the churchyard to which wolves'
heads were attached.... In ancient times, when it was a necessity
to exterminate certain animals, as foxes, wolves, etc., a reward
was given to those who captured these animals, and it was usual to
attach their heads to the cross in the churchyard for the purpose of
valuing them. Generally, the heads remained on the cross for three
church services, and after that the reward was given. For a wolf's
head the same sum was awarded, as was given for the capture of the
greatest robber; for (dog) foxes, 2s. 6d., and (vixens) 1s. 6d. In
the register of Laugharne church is an account of the sums given for
the different animals." Again, both at Llansandurnen and at Marrôs,
in the churchyard, is "a part of the ancient cross ... to which
wolves' heads, etc., were attached. It is but a few years ago that a
farmer in Marrôs hung foxes' heads on it. In the churchyard of Amroth
(Pembrokeshire) is a cross to which they used to attach wolves' heads,
etc."
The iconoclastic movement seems to have begun earlier than is commonly
imagined. In 1531 or 1532, according to John Foxe in his _Actes and
Monuments_, "there were many images cast down and destroyed in many
places, as the image of the crucifix in the highway by Coggeshall
(Essex). Also John Seward, of Dedham, overthrew a cross in Stoke Park."
The spirit of sacrilege and profanity having been aroused, many
gross excesses were committed by fanatical persons. Thus one Simon
Kent writes on 27th May 1549, to inform the Bishop of Lincoln that a
young man had nailed up a dead cat on the market cross at St Ives,
Huntingdonshire.
At South Littleton, Worcestershire, the "staff and head" of the cross
in the churchyard were disposed of by the churchwardens in 1552. In
another Worcestershire parish, on the contrary, that of Badsey, the
churchwardens in 1557 expended 7s. on the churchyard cross.
At Winchester, Bishop Horne, an inveterate innovator, in the
injunctions which he drew up for his cathedral church in 1571, ordered
"the stone cross in the churchyard" to be "extinguished".
At Prestbury, Cheshire, the churchwardens' accounts for 1576 to
1580 record the price paid "for cuttynge (down) the crosse in the
churcheyard, and the chargs of one with a certyficat thereof to
Manchester" (whence, presumably, the order for the demolition came),
and also the amount (14s.) received for the sale of "iron which was
aboute" the same cross. This would perhaps refer to the railing
for protection, required no longer when once the cross itself had
disappeared.
On the other hand, according to Thomas Fuller's _Church History of
Britain_, Abbot Feckenham built a cross at Wisbech, Cambridgeshire,
during the period of his imprisonment in Wisbech Castle, _i.e._, from
June 1580 to his death in 1585. At Fyfield, Berkshire, at the expense
of William Upton, a churchyard cross was erected as late as 1627.
Thus individual cases of destruction (as also of repair and
reconstruction) no doubt occurred from time to time; but if any
particular locality was denuded, it would have been due to the
prejudice and bigotry of some individual bishop, archdeacon, or
churchwarden, rather than to any systematic iconoclasm authorised by
the central government. On 28th August 1643, however, the Puritan
party having virtually gained the ascendancy in the kingdom, an
Act was passed in Parliament, entitled "Monuments of Superstition
or Idolatry to be demolished." This ordinance provides that "all
crosses upon all and every ... churches or chappels, or other places
of publique prayer, churchyards, or other places to any of the said
churches ... belonging, or in any other open place, shall, before
the ... first day of November (1643), be taken away and defaced, and
none of the like hereafter permitted in any such church ... or other
places aforesaid." Local committees were constituted for carrying out
the orders of Parliament. Seven eastern counties were entrusted for
purgation to the Earl of Manchester, who appointed, as Parliamentary
visitor under him, the notorious William Dowsing. This person, though
unsurpassed in vandalism, has yet been maligned so far as churchyard
crosses are concerned. In 1643 and 1644 he visited, in person or by
deputy, 149 churches in Suffolk, keeping a minute record of each day's
proceedings; but, strange to say, among all the quantity of objects
defaced, his _Journal_ does not specify one single instance of a
churchyard cross having been injured or destroyed by him.
In some cases the official despoilers met with popular opposition.
Thus Richard Baxter relates how, in obedience to the order sent by
the Parliament for the demolition of all images of the Holy Trinity
and of the Virgin Mary to be found in churches or on the crosses
of churchyards, the churchwarden of Kidderminster, Worcestershire,
determined to destroy the crucifix upon the churchyard cross there,
and accordingly set up a ladder to have reached it. But the ladder
proved too short, and whilst he (the churchwarden) was gone to seek
another, a crowd of the opposition "party of the town, poor journeymen
and servants, took the alarm, and ran together with weapons to defend
the crucifix"; and even purposed to wreak their vengeance upon Baxter
himself, supposing him to be the prime instigator of the iconoclasm.
Numbers of places, and they not necessarily of first rank nor
of special size, possessed more crosses than one. For instance,
Liverpool, in the Middle Ages but an insignificant village, as
compared with its present extent and importance, had its High Cross,
White Cross, Red Cross, Town-End Cross, and St Patrick's Cross--five
in all.
At Brackley, in Northamptonshire, "there were," writes Leland, _circa_
1535 to 1545, "three goodly crosses of stone in the town, one by south
at the end of the town, thrown down a late by thieves that sought for
treasure; another at the west end of St James' Church; the third very
antique, fair, and costly, in the inward part of the High Street.
There be divers tabernacles in this, with ladies and men armed. Some
say that the staplers of the town made this; but I think rather some
nobleman, lord of the town."
[Illustration: 19. CHARLTON MACKEREL, SOMERSETSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 20. BISHOP'S LYDEARD, SOMERSETSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS, WITH RECEPTACLE FOR OFFERINGS]
At Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, there were six crosses, viz.,
the churchyard cross (taken down in 1643); the potter's cross, in
the middle of the town, and one in each of the four roads leading
therefrom. The respective names of these were Collin's Cross, Crab
Cross, Wayte Cross, and Maple Cross.
Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire, had two crosses standing
respectively at the two principal entrances to the town. In 1584 the
"stock stone" at Thorpe Cross was sold for 2s. 2d. to John Wythers,
who, as part of the bargain, had to undertake to plant an ash, or a
thorn tree, in place of it. In the same year, 1584, the "stock stone
at Kettelby Cross, with one stone standing," was sold to William Trigg
for 5s., the purchaser undertaking, as in the last named case, to
plant a tree to mark the site.
In addition to the principal cross--the High Cross--of Chester, there
was one near St Michael's church. Another cross stood at Barrs, one at
Northgate, and another at Spittal Boughton. All three were pulled down
in 1583 by order of Archbishop Sandys' visitors. A contributor to the
_Gentleman's Magazine_, in 1807, says: "The only remains of any cross
at this time," in or near Chester, "is upon the Roode, where races are
run." The said meadow, otherwise Roodee, or Roodeye, is situated by
the River Dee, not far west of Chester. In former days, down to about
1587, this meadow used to be submerged at high tide, all except one
little island, upon which stood an ancient cross of such venerable
repute, as an object of pilgrimage, as to give its name to the isle
itself. This cross is identical with "the swete rode of Chester,"
referred to in the ribald verses, entitled "The Fantasie of Idolatrie"
printed under the date 1540 in Foxe's _Actes and Monuments_. When Dr
George Ormerod wrote his _Chester_ (finished in 1819), the base of
this cross, he said, "is, or was lately remaining, and was a few years
since replaced."
In and around London, besides the well-known crosses of St Paul's,
Cheap, and Charing, there were at one time and another three more
crosses which may be mentioned. One, called Le Broken Cross, was
erected by the Earl of Gloucester in the reign of Henry III. (1216
to 1272), but it did not stand very long. Its site is said to
have been the "place of the meeting of the Folkmote ... near St
Martin's-le-Grand, about midway between the Northgate of the precinct
(of St Paul's) and the church of St Vedast." On 5th September 1379
agreements were drawn up for letting the stations about the Broken
Cross to five divers persons. The cross was bodily taken down in 1390.
Another was the Cow Cross at Smithfield, a monument referred to by
Stow as no longer standing when he wrote. Another instance was the
Strand Cross, near Covent Garden. This cross was hexagonal on plan,
and comprised four stages. It was standing in 1547, but was ultimately
removed, its site being occupied by the Maypole, which was spoken of
in 1700 as new.
[Illustration: 21, 22, 23. OXFORD
SOCKET OF JEWS' CROSS, PRESERVED IN ST FRIDESWIDE'S CHURCH]
At Oxford there were at least two crosses, viz., the Jews' cross
(Figs. 21-23), and also a noted wayside cross, which the city records
show to have been in existence in 1331. It stood without the east
gate of the city, in front of the door of St John's Hospital, on or
near the site of the present entrance to Magdalen College. As to the
monument called the Jews' cross, its origin is historic. In 1268,
on Ascension Day, "as the usual procession of scholars and citizens
returned from St Frideswide's," and was passing the Jewish synagogue
in Fish Street (now St Aldate's), "a Jew suddenly burst from the group
of his friends ... and, snatching the crucifix from its bearer, trod
it underfoot." Part of the penalty exacted by the Crown was that the
Jews of Oxford had to erect, at their own cost, a cross of marble on
the spot where the outrage had been committed. The sentence, however,
was eventually modified to the extent that, instead of having to
endure a perpetual reminder of their humiliation and punishment
opposite to the very door of the synagogue, the Jews were allowed to
set up the expiatory cross in a less obnoxious position, an open plot
by Merton College. Such is the site where it used to be believed that
the cross stood. But a certain passage in the city records seems,
as the late Herbert Hurst pointed out, to contradict any previously
received identification of the site of the Jews' cross, and to locate
it rather on some spot near the north side of St Frideswide's church.
The passage in question is as follows: "In 1342, Adam Blaket was
indicted before John Fitz Perys and William le Iremonger, bailiffs
of Oxford, for that he, on the Thursday next before Palm Sunday,
feloniously entered by night the enclosure of the cemetery of the
Church of St Frideswyde, and there stole and carried off one arm,"
or other portion (_vana_) "of the great (_capitalis_) cross of the
cemetery, of the value of half a mark, and afterwards broke it into
four parts." The purloined fragments were subsequently "found and
seized. He (Blaket) confessed to the taking, and pleaded that he was
at the time a lunatic and not _compos mentis_."
Anyhow, if the precise site remains uncertain, there is extant a
sculptured socket, which, though it is only of stone, not marble,
Mr Hurst pronounced to be "an undoubted part" of the original Jews'
cross. This socket was described by Dr James Ingram in 1837 as
having been then "recently discovered, on the removal of a quantity
of rubbish from the foundation of the walls" of St Frideswide's,
embedded in the base of the diagonal buttress at the south-east angle
of St Lucy's chapel in the south transept. It is now preserved in the
gallery at the south end of the same transept. The four sides are
sculptured with what appear to be Old Testament subjects, although
only two are now identifiable. The first is the temptation of Adam
and Eve, with the serpent coiling round a tree between them; and
the second is the sacrifice of Isaac. The third appears to be the
sacrifice of an ox or calf; but the whole is much mutilated. Nothing
remains of it but the lower part of a human being on the left, and
the headless body of a cloven-footed quadruped, the forelegs of which
are in a kneeling posture. Above, a hand, issuing from a cloud, lets
down a pair of small tablets, or an open book. The subject of the
fourth side is a puzzle which has hitherto defied elucidation. It
represents three figures, the middle one seated between two upright
figures turning away, both having grotesque heads like apes. Below
the right foot of one of the figures is what appears to be a dragon
or demon, with its leg on the ground. At each angle of the stone is a
winged dragon, head downward, the tail terminating in characteristic
thirteenth-century foliage. The stone is 1 ft. 11 in. high, by 2 ft. 3
in. square at the bottom, decreasing to 1 ft. 9 in. square at the top.
The greatest dimension, inclusive of the figures, is 2 ft. 6 in. in
width.
It goes without saying that, so long as the land of Britain continued
to be open, _i.e._, not subdivided by enclosures--a process which
dates back no earlier than the fifteenth century--boundary stones for
defining the limits of contiguous parishes, as also of the properties
of individuals, assumed much greater importance than would be attached
to such marks in later times, after hedges had grown up and fences
come into use. The ancient boundary mark might sometimes be a plain
post or pillar, or it might take the form of a cross. The latter
practice is illustrated by the will of one John Cole, of Thelnetham,
Suffolk, dated 8th May 1527. The testator leaves 10s. for erecting
a new cross at the spot "at Short Grove's End, where the gospel is
said upon Ascension even," and, moreover, expressly directs that this
new cross is to be made on the model of one already standing, named
"Trapett Crosse at the Hawe Lane's End." The will further provides
for an income, arising from certain landed estates, sufficient to
yield annually a bushel and a half of malt "to be browne," and a
bushel of wheat to be baked, "to fynde a drinking" on the said day in
perpetuity, for the parishioners of Thelnetham "to drink at the crosse
aforenamed." Here, then, is an instance of a boundary cross explicitly
designed for the observances of the Rogation, or gang days.
But later on in the sixteenth century, the old order of things was
reversed, and the authorities proceeded to stamp out the former
time-honoured usages, one after another. Thus Bishop Parkhurst's
Injunctions for the diocese of Norwich in 1569, Grindal's for the
province of York in 1571, and Sandys' Articles for the diocese of
London in the same year, alike prohibited the popish ceremony of
"staying at any crosses" during the perambulation of parish bounds on
Rogation days.
Other ancient customs connected with standing crosses are illustrated
by the terms in which prelates of the reformed Church condemn them.
Thus, Bishop Bentham's Injunctions for the diocese of Coventry and
Lichfield in 1565 forbid bearers to set "down the corpse of any dead
body by any cross by the way, as they bring it to the burial"; and
again, later, Archbishop Grindal's Injunctions for the Province of
York in 1571 order that none shall "rest at any cross in carrying
any corpse to burying, nor shall leave any little crosses of wood
there." In 1585 the Bishop of St David's issued an Injunction to his
diocese, among the directions whereof, under the head of "Burial," it
is ordered: "First, that there be no crosses of wood made and erected
where they use to rest with the corpse; and especially that no wooden
crosses be set upon the cross in the churchyard." These strenuous
prohibitions only prove that the custom of placing wooden crosses
for the dead upon wayside or churchyard crosses must have prevailed
in ancient days, and was still tenaciously observed by the people in
spite of the drastic change of religion. It may possibly be that the
holes, sometimes found drilled in churchyard crosses, were provided,
among other purposes, for holding the pegs on which the small wooden
memorial crosses could be suspended.
Crosses, again, were employed to define, in any given locality, the
extent of the right of sanctuary, that powerful safeguard of the age
of faith and charity against summary vengeance and injustice. Thus,
at Ripon inviolable security was assured within the radius of about a
mile around the shrine of St Wilfrid; and accordingly a stone cross
was placed close by the edge of each of the five roads leading to the
city, to mark the sanctuary bounds. Of these five crosses; the only
one whereof any appreciable remnant survives, is that of Sharow. It
consists of a massive stone step, with the broken stump of the old
shaft.
At Wansford, in Northamptonshire, the River Nene is crossed by a
fourteenth-century stone bridge; and there, embedded in the ground,
in one of the refuges, formed by the triangular space on the top of
a cutwater, may be seen the socket of an ancient wayside cross. The
upper bed of the stone is barely above the level of the roadway, but
its rectangular outline, with the round mortice-hole in the centre,
is plain and unmistakable. There seems no reason to doubt that this
singularly interesting relic stands _in situ_, and the cross must thus
have borne as direct a relationship to the bridge, as a bridge chapel
would have done.
Near the road leading to the north entrance of Ravenshelm (now
Ravensworth) Castle, County Durham, is an old cross, known as the
"Butter Cross." The story is told of this, as of many other crosses
and landmarks, that the country people used to leave their produce
here for the citizens of Newcastle to fetch at the time when the town
was stricken by the plague in the sixteenth century. The structure
consists of two steps, a massive socket, and a lofty shaft, surmounted
by a "four-hole" cross.
Halfway between York and the village of Fulford are the remains of a
mediæval cross, at which, during the plague in 1665, the country folk
used to leave food, to be fetched by the citizens, so avoiding the
risk of contagion. This cross served in the same way again, as late as
the year 1833, during the cholera epidemic.
[Illustration: 24. CHESTER
HIGH CROSS]
Historically important as having been erected to commemorate the
battle between English and Scots, and the defeat of the latter, on
17th October 1346, Nevill's Cross has an added interest, inasmuch as
a very full and graphic description of it has been preserved from
the pen of one who was evidently well acquainted with the monument.
In fact he had been, previously to the Dissolution, a monk in the
great Benedictine community at Durham. The following is his account,
extracted from the _Rites of Durham_, which he wrote in 1593: "On the
west side of the city of Durham there was a most notable, famous, and
goodly large cross of stone work, erected and set up to the honour
of God and for the victory had thereof, shortly after the battle of
Durham, in the same place where the battle was fought, called and
known by the name of Nevill's cross, which was set up at the cost and
charges of the Lord Ralph Nevill, being one of the most excellent
and chief in the said battle and field. Which cross had seven steps
about it every way, four squared to the socket that the stalk of the
cross did stand in, which socket was made fast to a four-squared
broad stone, being the sole or bottom stone of a large thickness that
the socket did stand upon, which is a yard and a half square about
every way, which stone was one of the steps and the eighth in number.
Also the said socket was made fast with iron and lead to the sole
stone in every side of the corner of the said socket stone, which was
three-quarters deep, and a yard and a quarter square about every way.
And the stalk of the cross going upward contained in length three
yards and a half up to the boss, being eight square about (octagonal),
all of one whole piece of stone, from the socket that it did stand
in to the boss above, into the which boss the said stalk was deeply
soldered with lead and solder. And in the midst of the stalk, in every
second square, was the Nevill cross (saltire) in a scutcheon, being
the Lord Nevill's arms, finely cut out and wrought in the said stalk
of stone. Also the nether end of the stalk was soldered deep in the
hole of the socket that it did stand in, with lead and solder, and
at every of the four corners of the said socket below was one of the
pictures of the four Evangelists, being Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
very finely set forth and carved in stonemason work. And on the height
of the said stalk did stand a most large, fine boss of stone, being
eight square round about, finely cut out and bordered and marvellous
curiously wrought. And in every square of the nether side of the boss
in the masonwork was the Nevill's cross in a scutcheon in one square,
and the bull's head, having no scutcheon, in another square; and so
contained in every square after the same sort round about the boss.
And on the height of the said boss, having a stalk of stone, being
a cross standing a little higher than the rest, which was soldered
deeply with lead and solder into the hole of the said boss above;
whereon was finely cut out and pictured on both sides of the stalk of
the said cross the picture of our Saviour Christ, crucified with His
arms stretched abroad, His hands nailed to the cross, and His feet
being nailed upon the stalk of the said cross below, about a quarter
of a yard from above the boss, with the picture of our Lady, the
Blessed Virgin Mary, on the one side of Him, and the picture of St
John the Evangelist on the other side, most pitifully lamenting and
beholding His torments and cruel death, standing both on the height of
the said boss. All which pictures were very artificially and curiously
wrought altogether, and finely carved out of one whole entire stone,
some part thereof (being) through carved work, both on the east side
and the west side of the said cross, with a cover of stone likewise
over their head, being all most finely and curiously wrought together
out of the said whole stone, which cover of stone was covered all over
very finely with lead. And also, in token and remembrance of the said
battle of Durham, and to the perpetual memory and honour of the Lord
Nevill and his posterity for ever, it was termed by the title and name
of Nevill's Cross; which so did there stand and remain, most notorious
to all passengers, till of late, in the year of our Lord God 1589, in
the night time, the same was broken down and defaced by some lewd and
contemptuous wicked persons, thereunto encouraged, as it seemeth, by
some who love Christ the worse for the cross' sake, as utterly and
spitefully despising all ancient ceremonies and monuments." On the
above vivid description of Nevill's Cross no comment is required; but
it may not be amiss to append the note by the editors of the reissue
by the Surtees Society in 1903: "The socket is all that remains ...
The usual symbols of the four Evangelists are still to be seen on
the four corners," presumably beneath the places where the statues
themselves formerly stood, round about the shaft. The socket "has
recently been removed to a new mound some yards distant from the old
site. An old milestone stands where the stalk has been. Dr Raine (_St
Cuthbert_) states that documents in the Treasury refer to an earlier
Nevill's Cross in the same place; but he gives no references."
Six and a half miles south of Durham, in the modern village of Ferry
Hill, is the fragment of an old stone cross, named Cleve's Cross.
This monument, according to tradition, commemorates the valour of
one, Roger de Ferry, who slew a monster wild boar, which had been the
terror of the whole countryside.
At Wigan, Lancashire, are the rude remains of an ancient stone cross,
concerning which the following tradition is told. While Sir William
Bradshaigh was engaged in the holy wars or in travelling overseas,
his wife Mabel, weary of waiting for his return, bigamously married a
Welsh knight. After an absence of ten years, however, Sir William came
home again and, notwithstanding his pilgrim's habit, was recognised by
his wife. Whereupon the Welsh knight fled from the outraged husband,
who pursued, and, overtaking, slew him. Dame Mabel's confessor
enjoined her to walk barefoot once every week for the rest of her
life to do penance at a certain cross on the outskirts of Wigan. The
cross is the same which is situated at the end of Standishgate, and
has borne the significant name of "Mab's Cross" from the fourteenth
century to this day. The romantic story was used by Sir Walter
Scott as the basis of his novel, _The Betrothed_. This tradition of
employing crosses as places of public penance survives in the shape of
the old-fashioned stocks situated at the foot of village and market
crosses (Fig. 6).
Of Banbury Cross, Oxfordshire, immortalised in nursery rhyme, it is
much to be regretted that no vestige remains. John Leland, between
about 1535 and 1545, writes in his _Itinerary_: "At the west part of
the street," which runs east and west through the town, "is a large
area, having a goodly cross with many degrees (steps) about it. In
this area is kept every Thursday a very celebrate market."
As the churchyard or village cross was the centre of the life of the
smaller community, so also the market cross became the centre of the
municipal life of towns and boroughs. Thus, it was the custom, at the
close of the civic year, for the mayor and electors, being summoned
by the blowing of a horn, to assemble at the churchyard cross at
Folkestone, and at the market cross (now but a gaunt obelisk) at
Ripon, for the election of a mayor for the ensuing year of office.
At Chester, "the High Cross (Fig. 24) was the scene of all great
civic functions. Here, again and again, royalty was received.... Here
proclamations were read out with due formality, and here the (famous)
mystery plays were represented." Among the official uses to which
market crosses were put was that of a recognised place for public
proclamations. Thus, it was at the market cross at Darlington, in
1312, that the Bishop's order, prohibiting a tournament, which had
been announced to take place, was read. This particular market cross,
by the way, no longer exists, but its site is perpetuated by a plain
cylindrical column, surmounted by a ball, erected at the cost of Dame
Dorothy Browne in 1727.
At Wells it was a time-honoured custom that public proclamations
should always be read and published first at the High Cross. It was
from the cross at Lyme, Dorset, where he landed on 11th June 1685,
that the declaration of the rebel Duke of Monmouth was read; and it
was from the crosses of Taunton on 20th June, and Bridgwater, a day or
two later, that, emboldened by his reception in the west, he caused
himself to be proclaimed King of England--only to meet with crushing
humiliation and defeat from the forces of King James II. at Sedgemoor
on 6th July 1685.
The strangest and ghastliest of all uses to which a village cross
could be put is that of a gallows; but, unless tradition lies, the
notorious Judge Jeffreys actually hanged a man on the cross at
Wedmore, Somerset. This identical cross, with its tall shaft and
sculptured head, still stands, though removed from its original site
beside the shambles to the garden of the house in which Judge Jeffreys
himself is believed to have lodged, presumably during the Bloody
Assize in the autumn of 1685, following the collapse of Monmouth's
rebellion.
At Louth, Lincolnshire, a market cross was erected by the parish in
1521-22. That this structure was in the form of a roofed shelter, with
a lofty shaft rising from the midst, is evident from the circumstances
of the rebellion in 1536. The malcontents, it is recorded, had seized
a number of the official books, and were about to burn them unread,
when they came face to face with a certain priest, named William
Morland. Upon his remonstrating with them, they dragged him under
the High Cross and compelled him to examine the said books before
consigning them to the flames. Meanwhile, others of the crowd brought
the registrar, "and caused him, by a ladder, to climb up to the
altitude, or highest part, of the cross," who, in abject terror for
his life, sought to appease the mob by consenting to the destruction
of the books in his charge. A portion of this cross, being, perhaps,
so much of it as was adjudged to be superstitious, was taken down
in 1573. Three stones were purchased for mending the cross in 1632,
and further repairs, including tiling, were carried out in 1639. The
"cross pales," presumably the railings or posts about the cross, were
removed in October 1753; but a proposal for enclosing the structure,
"to keep it clean and decent," was carried by the parish in November
1769. Another cross was situated at a spot in Louth, known as Julian
Bower. This cross, according to the churchwardens' accounts, was
renewed in stone in 1544.
At Peterborough the old market cross, long since swept away, was a
covered cross, as is evident from the town accounts, which note, in
1649, a sum of money "received under the market cross by several
fellows for the use of the poor"; and, again, a further sum in 1652
"from the standers under the cross."
In parts of Wales it was formerly the custom for labourers offering
themselves for hire to congregate at the village cross, bargains made
at such a spot being regarded as of more binding nature than those
made elsewhere. It was indeed considered peculiarly dishonourable and
impious to break a contract made at the cross. The village cross of
Rhuddlan, in Flintshire, was so much frequented for hiring purposes,
that the amount of the wages prevailing there became the standard
for the time being for the whole district. There was also this
distinction, viz., that labourers, hired at Rhuddlan, were hired for
a week, during which term the rate agreed upon could not be altered;
as distinguished from the crosses of other places where the custom was
for the labourer to be hired by the day only--the scale of his pay
being liable to fluctuate accordingly from day to day.
In addition to the several kinds of crosses above enumerated, some
writers name "weeping crosses." What is meant by a weeping cross is
not clear, nor has anyone pretended to assign to such edifices, if
indeed they ever existed except in popular fallacy, any characteristic
features by which they may be recognised as distinct from other
crosses. For all practical purposes, then, the weeping cross is not.
Or again, it might well have been in any given case that a cross was
provided in order that a preacher might deliver his sermon from its
steps. But unless such a cross was constructed with the architectural
features of a pulpit cross (like those, for instance, at Iron Acton
(Fig. 144) or the Blackfriars' Cross at Hereford (Fig. 143)) then
surely it must only be reckoned with the normal type of churchyard or
village cross, from which it differs in no particular whatever. In a
word, the one standard by which the various crosses in the following
pages are grouped and classified is not their respective use and
purpose, real or imaginary, but their structural shape.
II. MONOLITH CROSSES
The peculiar form of many crosses of Cornish type, among others,
viz., a thick, rude monolith, with rounded head, is accounted for by
some authorities, who pronounce such crosses to be nothing else than
primeval menhirs. These venerated stones, then, it is stated, instead
of being demolished on the conversion of the populace from paganism,
were retained, and, after having the crucifixion or some other
Christian device incised, or sculptured in bas-relief, upon the upper
portion of the shaft, pressed into the service of the newly adopted
faith.
Such, at any rate, was the practice of St Patrick, in the fifth
century. It is true that if in any place he found the old
superstitious worship too deep-rooted and perverse to admit of
transformation, as it befell at Magh Sleacht, in County Cavan, where
he encountered a group of thirteen pagan menhirs, he could not do
but overthrow them without ruth; but whenever, on the other hand, as
beside Lough Hacket, in County Galway, he found other menhirs, the
popular regard for which was capable of being diverted into Christian
channels, he spared the pillar-stones, sanctifying them with holy
names and emblems.
The cutting away of certain portions of the top of the stone would
result in a short-armed cross; or, again, a little shaping, combined
with piercing, would produce the four-holed cross, so-called, viz.,
a cross within a ring or circle. It should be remarked at the outset
that the dating of these early monuments is a study which has hitherto
been strangely neglected. Antiquaries, like the late J. Romilly Allen,
for example, have analysed and codified the ornamented motifs of early
crosses with methodical precision; but the chronological side of the
subject is still a matter of debate. So widely do experts differ
that sometimes it happens that the same monument will be assigned
by some to the fifth or sixth, and by others to later dates ranging
to the twelfth century. Even when the cross happens to be inscribed
with runes, which might be expected to afford an authentic clue as
to its date and origin, the readings and interpretations propounded
by connoisseurs are so irreconcilable as to make one sceptical of
arriving at truth or finality through their guidance. The whole
question of chronology yet awaits investigation by some competent
authority. It must be understood, therefore, that the dates attributed
to the several examples in this section cannot pretend to be anything
else but approximate, although every care has been taken to obtain the
most approved estimate.
[Illustration: 25, 26. BEWCASTLE, CUMBERLAND
TWO VIEWS OF MONOLITH IN THE CHURCHYARD]
[Illustration: 27, 28. EYAM, DERBYSHIRE
VIEWS OF CROSS IN CHURCHYARD, SHOWING FRONT AND BACK]
[Illustration: 29, 30. SANDBACH, CHESHIRE
DETAILS OF CROSSES, WITH PLAN, SHOWING HOW THEY STAND]
[Illustration: 31. SANDBACH, CHESHIRE]
South of the church, in the churchyard at Bewcastle, Cumberland,
stands an obelisk or shaft of an early cross (Figs. 3, 25, and 26),
strikingly like the famous cross at Ruthwell, in Dumfriesshire.
The head of the latter is fairly complete, but in the case of the
Bewcastle cross "the head was broken off long ago," wrote Bishop G. F.
Browne. "About the year 1600, it was sent ... to Lord Arundel, and,
beyond a description in Camden, with an attempt at a representation of
the Runic inscription it bore, nothing has been heard of it since."
The height of the surviving part is 14 ft. 6 in. It is incised with
Anglian runes, which, however, are so much worn, and have been so
variously rendered, that no reliance can be placed on their alleged
authority. Scholars also differ widely as to the date of the cross,
some placing it as early as 665, and others even as late as 1150. The
west face comprises three standing human figures, in three tiers, the
lowest depicting a man with a hawk, while the middle one, a nimbed
figure, has been identified as Christ setting His feet upon the heads
of monsters. On the east face is one long uninterrupted vine scroll,
with birds and beasts in the volutes. The north and south faces are
subdivided into panels containing chequers, interlaced knots, and
scrollwork. In one of the scrolls on the south face is the oldest
detached dial in existence, as distinct from dials on the walls of
buildings. It presents a combination of the old 24-system and the
octaval system; but the gnomon is missing.
In the churchyard of Eyam, Derbyshire, is a peculiarly handsome
cross, of Anglo-Saxon workmanship, of about the year 700 (Figs. 27
and 28). The cross now measures 9 ft. 4 in. high; but the head is
detached and obviously incomplete, if indeed it belongs to the shaft
at all. Assuming, however, that it does belong, the existing lines
and proportions would make the cross in its original state attain a
total height of some 11 ft. 6 in. The width across the arms is 3 ft. 3
in. Both faces of the cross-top are sculptured with four angels each,
that one at the intersection being encircled with a ring. All that
part of the head below the central medallion is missing. The obverse
of the shaft has two panels of figure-subjects above a very rich and
elaborate interlaced knot-ornament. The edges have an interlaced
pattern derived from a six-cord plait. The reverse of the shaft is
occupied with the volutes of a "vine scroll."
In the churchyard of Bakewell, Derbyshire, stands the relic of a
monolith with short-limbed cross-head (Fig. 39). It dates from about
800 to 900; and, exclusive of the boulder which forms the base, stands
7 ft. 10 in. high, by about 2 ft. wide over all at the widest part.
One portion is sculptured with four compartments of figure-subjects,
presumably scriptural, the uppermost one being apparently a
crucifixion, though the stone is too much curtailed, and the ornament
too broken, for certainty on the point. The other face and the sides
are occupied with so-called vine scroll, an adaptation of debased
classical Roman work.
[Illustration: 32. IRTON, CUMBERLAND
CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD]
The two mutilated crosses standing side by side in the market square
at Sandbach, Cheshire (Figs. 29, 30, and 31), have had an eventful
history. Dating from the ninth century, it is on record that they
were still standing in 1585; but, since they are not mentioned by
Webb in 1621, the assumption is that they had been broken up in the
interval. Anyhow, the different parts became dispersed. Some were
taken, by Sir John Crewe, to Utkinton Hall, where they remained
until his death in 1711. They were subsequently removed to Tarporley
rectory. Thence, after Cole, the antiquary, had seen and made drawings
of them in 1757, they were taken to Oulton Park, where they were seen
and drawn by S. Lysons. Other portions, however, of these crosses
never left Sandbach, some of the lower parts being built into a wall
by the town well, while the summit was found to have been buried in
a garden. Lastly, through the zealous instrumentality of Dr George
Ormerod, the various fragments were collected, and re-erected at
Sandbach in September 1816. "The two crosses stand on a substructure
of two steps, with two sockets, in which the crosses are fixed. At the
angle of each stage of the platform are stone posts, on which figures
have been rudely carved." The head of either cross had been broken
off, so that their proper height has been reduced. "The crosses are
now of unequal height.... The taller one is 16 ft. 8 in. high; the
shorter one, 11 ft. 11 in." high. Both crosses are of rectangular
section, and tapering. It is not easy to convey in words an adequate
idea of the extraordinary richness and variety of their sculptured
ornament, which includes patterns derived from three-cord, four-cord,
and eight-cord plaits, and figure of eight knots, as well as "much
the finest series of figure subjects ... probably in all England."
On the larger cross the Crucifixion amid the Evangelistic symbols,
and beneath it the Nativity, with the ox and ass adoring, are clearly
discernible; but the identification of other subjects is in many cases
only conjectural. "The smaller cross bears a variety of human figures
placed within ... lozenges." The stone of the crosses is of lower
Silurian formation, practically indestructible by the natural action
of the weather, a circumstance which accounts for the remarkable
preservation of those parts which the wanton hand of man has spared.
The monolith cross in the churchyard at Irton, Cumberland (Fig. 32),
stands 9 ft. 8 in. high, and, with the exception of the cross-head,
the surface of which is much worn, is a singularly perfect specimen.
Its edges are ornamented with quasi-classic vine scrolls. The obverse
and reverse are covered with interlaced ornaments and key patterns.
The uppermost panel on one face is a diaper formed by a repetition
of small Greek crosses, set diagonally. The date of this cross is
approximately 950.
The tall sandstone cross, now in the churchyard of Gosforth, in
Cumberland (Fig. 33), is classed by the late Mr J. Romilly Allen as
belonging to a well-known type, Mercian in origin, in which the shaft
is cylindrical below and rectangular in the upper part. It may be
dated from about 1000 to 1066. A second cross, which is recorded to
have stood at a distance of 7 ft. from the first named, disappeared,
probably in the year 1789. In the extant cross the four flat faces of
the upper part of the shaft gradually die off into the round surface
of the lower part, giving a semicircular line of intersection, which
is emphasised by a roll moulding, forming a continuation of the
mouldings on the four square angles. The four flat surfaces exhibit
a great variety of human and animal forms, with zoomorphic ornament
and abstract plaits. Some of the subjects have been interpreted as
illustrating the stories of Heimdal and Loke, from Norse mythology,
though the whole is actually surmounted by a Christian four-holed
cross for head. The round part of the shaft in crosses of this type is
not, as a rule, ornamented. The Gosforth cross, therefore, is in this
respect exceptional. Its height is 14 ft. 6 in.
[Illustration: 33. GOSFORTH, CUMBERLAND
CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD]
Within Whitford parish, Flintshire, about a mile from the village,
on open ground, and quite unprotected, stands an ancient monolith
cross, known as Maen y Chwyfan (Fig. 36). The name can be traced back
at least to the year 1388. The first part of it is identical with the
first syllable of the word menhir. The last part of the name is of
doubtful signification. Some have thought that the whole means "St
Cwyfan's stone." The precise age of the cross is likewise doubtful,
but it may be dated from about 950 to 1000. Its total height above
ground is 11 ft. 3 in., by 11 in. thick, the stem diminishing in width
from 2 ft. 5 in. at the base to 1 ft. 8 in. at the neck of the solid
wheel-head, the diameter of which is 2 ft. 4 in. The flat stone,
through which the stem passes for support, measures 4 ft. 11 in. by 4
ft. 4 in. The cross is incised on the edges, as well as on both faces;
though almost all the ornament of the lower half of the reverse, or
west face, has perished. The condition of the obverse, or east face,
is by far the most perfect, and exhibits a wonderful combination
of patterns--crosses, knots, osier-plaits, and other devices. In
the head, the Triquetra, or three-cornered knot, is conspicuous.
Altogether the Maen y Chwyfan is the most important and striking
monument of its kind in North Wales.
[Illustration: 34. WHALLEY, LANCASHIRE
CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD]
[Illustration: 35. CHEADLE, CHESHIRE
CROSS, NOW IN YORK MUSEUM]
Writing in 1872, Mr J. T. Blight described the early twelfth-century
cross (now in the cemetery of Lanherne House Nunnery, Mawgan-in-Pyder,
Cornwall) (Fig. 38) as having been "removed several years since
from the Chapel Close of the Barton of Roseworthy, in the parish of
Gwinear." The crucifix, sculptured in low relief, is of the rudest
and most primitive character, while the cross itself belongs to the
class known as "four-holed." It is of Pentewan stone. Interlaced work
forms the greater part of the ornament, and on the lower portion of
the shaft, on either face, is an ancient inscription. The shaft has an
unmistakable entasis.
The head of another four-holed cross, the holes having the shape of
rough trefoils, is to be seen in the churchyard of St Columb Major,
Cornwall. Both faces of the cross are similarly sculptured with the
Triquetra (Fig. 37). The height is 3 ft. 1½ in. by 2 ft. 9 in.
wide, over all, the material granite.
At Cheadle, Cheshire, in 1875, there were dug up, in a brickfield
opposite to the Convalescent Hospital, the fragments of an early
cross, probably of the tenth century, of Anglo-Saxon type (Fig. 35).
In each limb of the cross, as well as at the intersection, is a convex
boss. The material of the cross is a coarse grit stone. The dimensions
are 1 ft. 4 in. wide at the greatest width, by 2 ft. 8 in. in height.
It is now preserved at the Museum at York.
In the parish churchyard of Whalley, Lancashire, stands a cross (Fig.
34), which was, no doubt, originally a monolith, but has been broken
across, and appears to have had its fractured edges trimmed and
squared. At any rate, part of the stem, perhaps as much as 2 ft. of
the height, where the cross-head rests upon it, is obviously missing.
The arms also are missing, but the cross was originally of much the
same outline as that of the cross at Irton and that from Cheadle.
The ornament of the Whalley cross, however, is of much more refined
execution. The date of it may be about 1000.
In the churchyard of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, opposite to the
south porch, stands an ancient shaft, 14 ft. high, traditionally known
as the Danes' cross (Fig. 2). It rises from a round stone, 7 ft. in
diameter, and its form is that of a cylinder, 2 ft. 6 in. in diameter,
tapering toward the neck. Almost the entire surface of the shaft is
covered with sculptured ornament of about the year 1150 to 1175. There
is, or was, a somewhat similar example in the churchyard of Leek, in
the same county.
Another twelfth-century cross is that inscribed in memory of Ralph's
son, William, at Fletton, in Huntingdonshire (Figs. 40, 41).
This cross is a monolith, though the continuity of the design is
interrupted by a heavy fillet, forming a horizontal band round the
middle of the shaft.
[Illustration: 36. WHITFORD, FLINTSHIRE
EAST SIDE OF CROSS, NAMED MAEN Y CHWYFAN]
[Illustration: 37. ST COLUMB MAJOR, CORNWALL
HEAD OF A CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD]
[Illustration: 38. MAWGAN-IN-PYDER, CORNWALL
LANHERNE HOUSE NUNNERY, CROSS FROM ROSEWORTHY, GWINEAR]
[Illustration: 39. BAKEWELL, DERBYSHIRE
CROSS IN CHURCHYARD]
[Illustration: 40, 41. FLETTON, HUNTINGDONSHIRE
FRONT AND BACK OF CROSS]
[Illustration: 42. HEXHAM, NORTHUMBERLAND
CROSS AT ST GILES' HOSPITAL]
[Illustration: 43. WOOLER, HEDGELEY MOOR, NORTHUMBERLAND
PERCY'S CROSS]
[Illustration: 44. BLANCHLAND, NORTHUMBERLAND
CROSS IN THE ABBEY CHURCHYARD]
The remains of the cross in the grounds of the Spital at Hexham
(Fig. 42) offer an instance of vine scrollwork, derived from debased
late-classic ornament. Another side of the shaft is sculptured in low
relief with a primitive representation of the Crucifixion between two
figures, which, however, bear but slight resemblance to the Mary and
John of post-Conquest tradition.
On the plain of Hedgeley Moor, near Wooler, in the north part of
Northumberland, stands a monolith, commonly known as Percy's Cross
(Fig. 43), because it is alleged to mark the spot where, on 24th April
1464, Sir Ralph Percy fell in a desperate attempt, on the part of
Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI., to recover the throne for her
demented husband. So rude and primitive is this monument that it is
hard to believe that it could have been executed in the technically
skilled period of the fifteenth century. It displays conspicuously,
however, the badges of the house of Percy--the luces, or pike, the
mascles, and the crescents, sculptured on its eight sides. The
pillar stands on a plain, rugged socket. This cross became the
rallying point, where the men of the north, opposed to the religious
innovations of Henry VIII., gathered under the banner of the Five
Wounds, badge of the ill-starred Pilgrimage of Grace, in 1536-7.
Percy's Cross, on Hedgeley Moor, must not be confounded with the Percy
Cross at Otterburn, erected to commemorate the battle of Chevy Chase,
fought on 19th August 1388. The latter cross is a simple monolith,
which has a decided entasis, and is mounted on a pile of masonry,
resembling but roughly a flight of circular steps.
The cross in the churchyard of Blanchland Abbey, Northumberland (Fig.
44), is an interesting example of Gothic design applied to a monolith.
From the style of its head this cross can scarcely date back any
earlier than the late-thirteenth, or early-fourteenth century.
III. THE SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE
The average form of standing cross, and such to which the vast
majority of them, not in churchyards only, but also on village
greens and squares, or by the wayside, belongs, is that of the
shaft-on-steps type. The fully developed cross of this sort consists
of steps or calvary, socket, shaft or stem, capital or knop, and
head. The latter, it should be remarked, is that part of the cross
which, no doubt on account of the sacred or legendary significance
of the figures sculptured upon it, is now most commonly absent. The
remaining elements consisting of such simple units, it is truly
wonderful how great variety of treatment is to be observed in crosses
of the kind. The resources of their design may almost be said to be
unlimited. It rarely happens that any two examples are found quite
alike in all respects. For though the simplest of motifs be adopted,
yet a minute change of detail, such as a hollow chamfer instead of
a plain, flat bevel, or the setting of an angle pedestal diagonally
instead of squarely with the side it adjoins, or some such other
slight divergence, if insignificant in itself, will not fail to
produce, by consistent repetition, a widely different result in the
aggregate. The parts which lend themselves more appropriately than the
rest to ornamental treatment are the socket, the knop, and most of
all, the head. The steps, whether circular, rectangular, hexagonal,
or octagonal on plan, are not made the subject for ornament, except
rarely, and then it is confined to a moulded overhanging drip, or
a moulded set-off in the angle between the tread and the riser, as
for example, at Bishop's Lydeard (Fig. 20), Charlton Mackerel (Fig.
19), and North Petherton, in Somersetshire (Fig. 77), and Raunds, in
Northamptonshire (Fig. 45). Raunds cross has two steps, and the riser
of the upper one is enriched with late-Gothic quatrefoil panelling.
Such treatment, however, is altogether exceptional; and even in this
case can scarcely be authentic, seeing that the quatrefoils are not
properly spaced, as they must have been spaced, had they been designed
for the position they now occupy.
[Illustration: 45. RAUNDS, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
On the other hand, the stone block or socket, into which the shaft
is mortised (and furthermore, as a rule, secured with lead), was
regarded as a thoroughly appropriate place for ornament. It is most
usually square on plan, and its upper bed made octagonal by means of
steps or broaches, in the shaping of which a very great variety is
manifested. The commonest form of step is diamond-pointed, but there
are others which take the shape of a sort of round hump. Examples of
plain diamond steps occur in the sockets of Thatcham (Fig. 61) and
Water Perry (Fig. 4) crosses. The socket at Stanway, Gloucestershire
(Fig. 60), with its severely geometrical triangles and lozenges, is
of most unusual form. It measures 1 ft. 10 in. high, exclusive of the
fractured stump of the shaft. Convex angle-stops occur at Carlton
(Fig. 63), Cumnor (Fig. 59), Stringston (Fig. 5), and Wicken (Fig.
62). The socket of the last-named cross is 2 ft. 6 in. square by 1
ft. 8 in. high. Its octagonal shaft is 11½ in. square at the foot,
with pointed stops reaching up to a height of 9 in. Some of the round
stops, at the corners of sockets, have a diagonal ridge extending
to the outer angle, as at Carlton (Fig. 63), Stevington (Fig. 17),
and Stringston (Fig. 5). The knop of the last-named, it may be
mentioned, consisted of four demi-angels, holding shields, but their
heads have been broken off, and themselves made almost unrecognisable
through defacement. To resume, the sockets of the crosses at Elmswell
in Suffolk, at Bradford Abbas and Stalbridge (Fig. 58), both in
Dorsetshire, and of at least a dozen crosses in Somersetshire,
including Doulting (Figs. 74, 75, and 76), Evercreech, Minehead, North
Petherton (Fig. 77), West Pennard, and Wraxall, have angle-pedestals
on every alternate cant of the octagon. These pedestals may have been
designed for statuettes of the four Evangelists. Whatever the subject
of the figures, the effect of the whole group, with the tall shaft in
the middle, must have been very handsome. At Dundry (Fig. 78) and Wick
St Laurence, both in Somersetshire, instead of detached or engaged
pedestals, there are, at the angles of the square socket, clasping
buttresses with mouldings. The plan of Dundry, Wraxall, and Yatton
is made extra elaborate and complex by means of a plinth, forming an
eight-pointed figure, inserted between the socket and the topmost step
of the calvary.
At Headington (Figs. 69 and 70), Ombersley (Figs. 66, 67, and 68),
Raglan (Fig. 71), and Wicken (Fig. 62), the sockets are handsomely
panelled with late-Gothic tracery ornament, principally quatrefoils.
The sockets of Doulting (Figs. 74, 75, and 76) and West Pennard
crosses, in Somersetshire, have emblems of the Passion carved on
the sides; that at Charlton Mackerel (Fig. 19) has the Evangelistic
symbols in the same position. More rarely, as at Bishop's Lydeard
(Fig. 20) and Long Sutton, both also in Somersetshire, and at
Rampisham and Stalbridge (Fig. 58), both in Dorsetshire, and
Yarnton, Oxfordshire (Figs. 51 and 52), the panels of the socket
contain sculptured figure-subjects. An octagonal socket at Westcote,
Gloucestershire, has a standing figure under a trefoiled niche on
each side. This is an early example, since its date is the thirteenth
century. At Didmarton, in the same county, is a fourteenth-century
socket, octagonal on plan, having a half-length figure sculptured on
every alternate side.
The churchyard cross at Dorchester, Oxfordshire (Fig. 65), had lost
its original head by the time that Buckler made his sketch in 1813.
According to him, the lower step was 6 in. high, and the next one
above it 10 in. high. The socket was 1 ft. 7 in. square on plan, by
1 ft. 6 in. high; the shaft being a monolith 8 ft. 6½ in. high
from socket to head. As to the socket, the transition from square to
octagon, by means of stops, is very effective. The cross has since
suffered drastic "restoration." The treatment of the stops on the
socket may be compared with that at Keyingham, Yorkshire (Fig. 64),
and Headington, Oxfordshire (Fig. 69).
The Whitefriars' cross (Figs. 72 and 73), so-called, about a mile from
Hereford, is believed to have been built, shortly after the great
plague at Hereford in the fourteenth century, by Lewis Charlton,
Bishop from 1361 to 1369. On the summit of a lofty flight of seven
steps rises a high pedestal, hexagonal on plan, each side of which has
a sunk panel, sculptured with a shield charged with a lion rampant.
The cornice is embattled, and the whole was crowned with a moulded
socket. Such was the state of the monument in 1806, the shaft and
cross-head having completely disappeared, thereby reducing the total
height to some 15 ft. A new shaft and cross, disproportionately large,
were "restored" by the year 1875. The peculiar feature of this cross
is the lofty pedestal, which scarcely has any parallel, with the
exception of the crosses of Helpston, in Northamptonshire, and of
Aylburton and Clearwell, both in Gloucestershire.
As to the shaft, whether it be cylindrical, clustered, square, or
octagonal, it usually tapers, but is very seldom ornamented, beyond
having a stop near the foot of each alternate cant in an octagonal
stem. A few crosses may now be described, illustrating different
treatments of the shaft.
The cross in the churchyard at Rocester, Staffordshire (Figs. 47 and
48), has three steps, each 6 in. high. The socket is 2 ft. 4 in. high,
and the tapering stem, which is 1 ft. square over all at the bottom,
is 11 ft. 9 in. high, exclusive of the capital. The stem, in the
form of four keel-moulded shafts, with a vertical strip of dog-tooth
ornament between them, must be of early date, possibly as early as
1230.
The socket of the Great Grimsby churchyard cross (Fig. 49) may be
earlier still, although the stem or shaft itself might be somewhat
later, perhaps about the middle of the thirteenth century. On plan
the stem consists of four engaged shafts, each with a keel-mould on
its outermost projection. The step is 3 ft. 8 in. square by 9 in.
high. Next is a socket, 2 ft. 7 in. square on plan, consisting of two
stages, the lower having a trefoiled arcade on each of its four sides,
the upper one octagonal, with mouldings. The shaft is 6 ft. 2 in.
high, including the capital. The total height is 10 ft. 3 in.
The village cross at Harringworth, Northamptonshire, has, not unlike
the last example, a shaft composed of a cluster of eight engaged
columns. It is apparently of late thirteenth-century date.
Two Oxfordshire examples, both of about the same date, 1290, viz., the
churchyard cross at Yarnton (Figs. 51 and 52) and the market cross at
Eynsham (Fig. 50), are adorned with sculpture, notably with canopied
figures in low relief surrounding the foot of the shaft. Both shafts
are much weather-worn, and that of Yarnton has lost its upper half,
but the design of the two crosses appears to have been very similar.
Yarnton cross stands upon two circular steps, the lower one of which
has a diameter of about 6 ft. 9 in. or 7 ft. The socket has a circular
plinth cut out of the same block of stone, and is on plan a quatrefoil
of four circles, with the corners of a smaller square occupying the
inner angles. The moulded capping is also cut in the same block. On
each of the four semicircular faces is a niche incised with a figure
in armour, kneeling, except on the eastern face, which exhibits a
figure reclining somewhat in the familiar "Dying Gaul" attitude. The
figure on the south face has a shield on the left arm. The bottom of
the shaft is square on plan, with beaded angles, while the other part
is on plan a circle, surrounded by four smaller engaged circles, or
segments of circles. The figures round the shaft are four saints, now
too much worn to be identified, under steep gables, with crockets. The
cross at Eynsham differs from that at Yarnton more in the socket than
in any other part. The Eynsham socket is a square block, with a figure
sculptured at each angle, and gabled panels between. The upper part of
the shaft is complete, and shows what must have been the form of the
portion now wanting from Yarnton cross.
Another instance of an ornamented shaft is that of Mitchel Troy
(Fig. 57). There the stem, a monolith of reddish sandstone, about 1
ft. by 8 in. on plan at the foot, tapers to about half the above
dimensions at the point where it is broken off, at a height of about
11 ft. The angles are chamfered, and the chamfers are ornamented
with ball-flowers alternating with shields, sixteen ball-flowers
on each chamfer. The date of this cross is the fourteenth century.
Two Northamptonshire crosses, those of Higham Ferrers (_c._ 1320)
and Irthlingborough (_c._ 1280) respectively (Figs. 55 and 56),
are ornamented with sculptured decorations throughout the whole
height of the shaft. At Ashton-under-Hill, Gloucestershire, the
face of the shaft of the cross, about a third of the distance up
from the bottom, is ornamented with a scutcheon. A certain number
of Somersetshire crosses has a figure under a niche on one side of
the shaft. In cases where, as at Burton St David, Broadway, Holford,
Montacute, and Wiveliscombe, the niche and figure are sunk into the
body of the monolith itself, there can scarcely be any objection
to the device. But where, on the contrary, the statue, set on a
bracket, stands prominently forward beyond the face of the shaft, the
effect is anything but happy. For then the shaft looks so weighted
down in one direction as almost to overbalance. The crosses at
Bishop's Lydeard (Fig. 20) and Crowcombe (Fig. 118) are particularly
exaggerated instances in point; others only less marked being the
crosses at Drayton (Fig. 54), Fitzhead, Heathfield, Hinton St George,
and Horsington (Fig. 53). But this peculiarity is not confined
to Somersetshire. Thus, at Stalbridge, Dorsetshire (Fig. 58), a
conspicuous statue and niche occur on one side of the shaft, while at
Bradford Abbas, in the same county, the churchyard cross, though much
decayed, affords unmistakable traces of having had a statue sculptured
on each of the four sides of the shaft. A similar arrangement is to be
found in Langley Abbey cross, Norfolk.
[Illustration: 46. ROTHERSTHORP, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
HEAD OF CROSS]
The knop, though richly sculptured, is rarely the pronounced and
distinctive feature that it is at Maughold (Figs. 86, 87), St
Donat's (Figs. 108, 109), and Sherburn-in-Elmet (Fig. 113), or in
the so-called Ravenspurne cross, a monument now standing at Hedon,
Yorkshire (Fig. 79). The chamfers of its shaft have traces of figures
about midway, and the head is large and imposing, but too ill-defined
for the subject to be identified. It has, however, been described
as having "curious sculptured emblems of our Lord and the Blessed
Virgin Mary." The cross is said to have been erected to commemorate
the landing of Henry IV. in 1399 at Ravenspur, near Spurn Head, in
the East Riding. Edward IV. also landed there in 1471. Ravenspur was
a well-known seaport in former times, but its site is now completely
submerged. The cross stood on the seashore at Kilnsea until 1818, when
it was removed further inland, for safety from the encroaching sea. It
was eventually set up in the town of Hedon.
Usually the knop is reduced to a mere bead, or at any rate is nothing
more prominent than the expanding cove beneath the actual head, as at
Ampney Crucis, Derwen, and in the two crosses at Cricklade. A factor
of immense importance in preserving the organic coherence between
shaft and head (wherever the latter takes the form of a cross) is
that the lines of the shaft below the knop and of the lower limb of
the cross above the knop, should be absolutely continuous, as though
passing through, but not interrupted by, the knop. This requisite is
satisfactorily exemplified by two very fine Lincolnshire specimens,
viz., the well proportioned cross at Somersby (Fig. 81), and one, now
at Keyingham, Yorkshire (Fig. 80), known, from the name of him who
set it up there, as the Owst cross, since the exact place from which
it originally came in Lincolnshire has not been recorded. In both
these instances, the handsome knop, moulded and embattled, is but a
surrounding band or ring, which occasions no sort of break in the
composition, nor interferes at all with the even trend of its upward
lines. At Somersby the motif of the crenellated knop is admirably
followed up in the battlements of the gabled roof over the head of the
crucifix. The shaft is octagonal, and the cross stands altogether 15
ft. high.
The crown and glory of the cross is the head, and it was upon this
that the choicest art of the sculptor was lavished; and it is
instructive to trace the development from the rudimentary crudities of
the thirteenth to the perfect maturity of the late-fifteenth century.
In pulling down an old barn in the village of Rothersthorp,
Northamptonshire, in 1869, there was found the head of a cross
(Fig. 46), which was placed in the parish church in about 1890. The
stone is 2 ft. 9 in. high by 1 ft. 3 in. wide. The crucifix, which
is surrounded by a ring, springs from a mass of thirteenth-century
foliage, the capital beneath being surrounded with a belt of foliage
of similar kind.
At Halesowen, Worcestershire (Fig. 82), in or about 1915, there was
found, built into the walls of a cottage, the sculptured head of
a cross, which may date as far back as 1300 to 1320. It is of red
sandstone, and much weatherworn, besides the deliberate defacement
which it has undergone. On plan it is an oblong square, 10 in. by
6 in., the extreme height being 1 ft. 7½ in. On one side is a
crucifixion without attendant figures; and, on the opposite side,
the Blessed Virgin enthroned, holding her Divine Son on one arm
and an apple in the other hand. The ends of the cross-head contain
unidentified figures, one a female saint, conjectured to be St Agatha,
the other an ecclesiastic, vested in amice and chasuble, and holding
his crosier in his left hand. That which he wears on his head is
broken, but it looks more like a tiara than a mitre. This cross-head
is a peculiarly interesting example, not only because of its early
date, but also because its existence is hardly known.
The cross-head found among the ruins of Croxden Abbey, Staffordshire
(Fig. 88), and sketched by Buckler in the first half of the nineteenth
century, is of a somewhat unusual type for its purpose, with handsome
crocketing. The Christ has the feet crossed and fastened with a single
nail in the newer fashion, though the arms are, in the ancient mode,
perfectly horizontal. The work dates probably from the closing years
of the fourteenth century.
How widely individual treatment might vary within a comparatively
short space of time is illustrated by the fragments of the cross-head,
found built into the east gable of North Hinksey church, in Berkshire,
near Oxford (Figs. 83, 84, and 85). The cross is of rich floriation,
overlaid upon which is a perfectly plain narrow cross, bearing the
image of the Crucified, Whose feet are crossed, as at Croxden; while,
on the contrary, the arms and hands are dragged upward in the fashion
that prevailed at a much later period. This cross-head belongs to
about the middle of the fourteenth century. The shaft and steps still
stand in the churchyard, to the south of the chancel. The shaft is
fractured at a height of 8 ft. 9 in. from the socket; the total
height, including socket and steps, is 13 ft. 8 in.
At Bleadon, Somersetshire, "a few years ago," wrote C. Pooley in 1877,
during the restoration of the church, in removing the plaster, there
was found embedded in a recess in the east wall of the porch, the
sculptured stone head of a cross of the time of Edward III. (Fig. 89).
The side exposed, the reverse, portrays the Blessed Virgin and Child
between two donors, a man and woman, kneeling. The remarkable feature
of this cross-head is the gilding and polychrome decoration, of which
considerable traces had survived. The crucifix, on the obverse, being
turned inward to the wall, is hidden from view; but, since this
particular cross belongs to the same group as those, for example, of
Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Stringston, and Wedmore, in the same county, in
which the upper part of the figure-sculpture is pierced through from
front to back, the arms and upper limb of the cross remain clearly
visible from the reverse side.
In the churchyard of Newmarket, Flintshire (Figs. 90, 91), stands
a remarkable cross, with octagonal socket and shaft, both having
diamond-pointed stops. The shaft is 6 ft. 5 in. high, and surmounted
with a massive capital or knop. The head is tabernacled on all four
faces, but its end niches are empty. The niches of the obverse and
reverse have each a crucifixion, the one unaccompanied, the other
between Mary and John. This curious anomaly of a double yet divergent
representation in one and the same cross-head occurs also at Mitton,
Yorkshire. The cross-head at Newmarket measures 3 ft. 6 in. wide at
its widest, by 1 ft. 6 in. from front to back. The date of the work is
about the middle of the fourteenth century.
At Maughold, Isle of Man (Figs. 86, 87), just outside the churchyard
gate, and at a distance of about 90 ft. from the north-west angle of
the church, stands a cross of very remarkable design, quite unlike
the distinctive Manxland type. It is, in fact, of middle-Gothic,
belonging, to all appearance, with its blunt cusps and its turgid
crockets and finial, to the approximate period of 1330 to 1340. Some
authorities, however, assign it to a date some hundred years or more
later. The head and knop are in two pieces, which, being of St Bees
sandstone, a material foreign to the island, must have been imported
thither, perhaps already carved complete, ready for fixing. The knop
is square, measuring 14 in. every way. The head is 2 ft. 7 in. high,
by 18 in. wide at the widest part, by 8 in. thick. Both head and shaft
are tenoned into the knop. The shaft, 5 ft. 1 in. high, is octagonal
throughout the greatest extent of its length, but the alternate sides
have stops, so that the shaft is actually square on plan at top and
bottom. The head is of most unusual shape, the principal panel on
either side presenting a sort of rough resemblance to a pointed spade;
and containing, on the west, a Madonna and Child, and, on the east,
a crucifixion, with the arms spread out quite horizontally, after
the manner of earlier tradition. On the knop, under the crucifix,
is a heater-shaped shield, bearing, alone of the six shields in the
composition, a heraldic charge, viz., the Three Legs of Man (only
reversed), with huge rowels to the spurs. The shield on the knop
beneath the Madonna has a rose encircled by a ring, which has a bezel
in the form of a cross. The north side has, at the top, a shield with
a double rose. Lower down, on the same edge of the head, are rude
representations of oak leaves, pointing downward; and below, on the
knop, is a shield with a chalice, which has the invected foot with
points, characteristic of the fourteenth century. The shield at the
top of the south edge is per fess, a bud or flower with two wavy
leaves on either hand; while underneath are three oak leaves on the
shield itself, and one below the shield. Beneath the last-named leaf
is a sunk panel with the representation of a warrior on his knees (no
doubt the donor), turning, with hands upraised, toward the Madonna
in the adjoining panel. On the knop, below the kneeling figure, is a
shield with an unidentified charge, a square object entirely composed
of vertical flutings, above an oak leaf. The top surface of the head
is almost flat, and appears to have borne a capstone, the dowel holes
for attaching which yet remain. The shaft is let into a plain square
socket. The cross, though weathered, is in wonderful preservation,
and is now protected by an iron railing. It is not known ever to have
stood on any other than the present site.
At Wheston, a hamlet in Tideswell, Derbyshire, is a roadside cross
of stone, of the late-fourteenth century, with octagonal, tapering
shaft, culminating in a cusped rood, the uppermost limb of which is
appreciably shorter than the arms (Figs. 92, 93). On the obverse is a
crucifix with the arms horizontally outstretched. The figure is bared
to the waist, but the remainder of the body downwards is missing. On
the reverse is a Virgin and Child, a Gothic rosette being sculptured
near the end of each limb of the cross. The figure-sculpture is coarse
and primitive. The shaft is mounted on four steps, the topmost one of
which forms the socket, and, by means of diamond stops, assumes an
octagonal plan.
The cross in the churchyard at Lanteglos juxta Fowey, Cornwall (Figs.
94, 95), was discovered, about the year 1850, "buried deeply in the
trench which runs round the wall of the church." After having lain
prostrate for two or three years more, it was at last raised and
placed erect, with a disused millstone for base, near the church
porch. It is of granite, encrusted with lichen. The shaft, 8 ft.
high, is octagonal, and tapers slightly from 14 in. at greatest width
across the bottom; the four alternate sides being sculptured with
sunk panelling, wheels, and rosettes of Gothic character. The head,
about 2 ft. high, is an oblong square on plan. The widest sides have
double canopies, with the Crucifixion, unattended, on the north, and
the Blessed Virgin and Child on the south. The ends, being narrower,
have each a single canopy, enshrining an unidentified figure. Mr J.
T. Blight supposed them to represent Saints Peter and Paul; but Mr F.
T. S. Houghton believes that one of the two is meant for St Tecla. So
far as one may venture to judge from the extremely rude and unskilled
figure-sculpture, the work seems to be of the late-fourteenth
century. The above cross is typical of a certain number of Cornish
crosses belonging to the matured mediæval period, in which the head
is set direct on to the shaft, without intervening neck, or knop.
Besides this feature there should be noted another characteristic
in the crosses, for instance, at Callington, St Ives (Fig. 96), and
Mawgan-in-Pyder (Figs. 106, 107), to wit their disproportionately
thick and sturdy stem, as contrasted with the moderate size of the
head.
At St Ives the cross-head was unearthed in the churchyard in 1832,
and re-erected on a new base in 1852. The height of the cross, as
now standing, is 10 ft. 6 in. The reverse of the sculptured head
portrays the Madonna and Child, with a kneeling figure, most likely
meant for the donor. The obverse is remarkable because the Crucifixion
is introduced not, so to speak, _per se_, but rather incidentally,
as constituting part of the Holy Trinity group. The crucified Son,
then, is placed between the knees of the Eternal Father, Whose
hands upraised on either side, the right in benediction, may be
observed above the arms of the crucifix. All and any representations
of this nature, depicting the Trinity, were peculiarly obnoxious
to the reformers, and are yet commonly objected to as being
"anthropomorphic." Similar representations of the Trinity occur on one
side of the cross-head, with the Crucifixion on the other side, at
Cogenhoe, in Northamptonshire, and Pocklington, in the East Riding of
Yorkshire (Figs. 114, 115). There is also a Trinity in the head of the
cross at Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire.
The same subject again is sculptured in the head of another Cornish
cross, that in Mawgan-in-Pyder churchyard (Figs. 106, 107). It is
made of Catacluse stone, and is a late-Gothic example, with very rich
tabernacle-work in the head. In fact, it was singled out by the late
J. T. Blight as "the most elaborate specimen of the kind in Cornwall."
On the opposite side to the Trinity is a subject of uncertain
identity, most likely the Annunciation. A single figure, vested in
pontificals, occupies either end of the head. The shaft is hexagonal,
with diamond-pointed stops, now much overgrown and practically hidden
from view. It stands 5 ft. 2 in. high.
At Ampney Crucis, Gloucestershire (Figs. 97, 98, 99), the churchyard
cross was overthrown at some unknown period. In January 1854 the
head of it was discovered, built up amid a heap of rubbish in the
cavity of the rood-staircase. Taken thence, it was reinstated in
its proper place in the churchyard about 1860. There are two stone
steps, which measure respectively 7 ft. 6 in. and 5 ft. square, and an
octagonal socket. The shaft is square on plan, changing, by means of
stops, into an octagon. The stops, however, instead of terminating in
diamond-points, or otherwise dying away into the chamfer, are crowned
with engaged pinnacles, extending some way up the canted sides, a
most unusual and charming device. It is a misfortune that the effect
of this fine cross is spoilt by the faulty, modern treatment of the
upper portion of the stem, which, being made too short, is obliged to
contract much too abruptly to the junction with the head. Instead of
tapering truly, with a series of straight lines converging gradually
upward, the shaft is pared away in a concave outline, which results
in very serious disfigurement. The total height is only about 10 ft.
The head is in excellent preservation, and, though not elaborate, an
exceedingly beautiful specimen. It is an oblong square on plan, and
thus has two wide sides (occupied respectively by the Blessed Virgin
and Child, and by the Crucifixion between Mary and John) and two
narrow ends (one occupied by an unidentified ecclesiastic, the other
by an unidentified warrior). The canopies are severely plain, being no
more than cusped trefoils; while the top is coped in the shape of a
gabled roof. The work is of the latter part of the fourteenth century.
Two interesting Herefordshire examples, brought to light a few years
ago, have been reinstalled under the auspices of the Society for
the Protection of Ancient Buildings (as recorded in the Committee's
Report, dated June 1916). These two crosses, which are at Madley
(Figs. 101, 102) and Tyberton (Figs. 100, 103), respectively, bear a
striking resemblance to one another. The heads of both are gabled,
with a crucifixion on the obverse, and on the reverse a Virgin,
crowned and throned, with her Child standing, fully draped, on her
knee. The Tyberton cross-head is by far the more perfect of the two.
It had been misused as a finial, or hip-knob, at the end of the brick
church. The head of the Madley cross is so badly defaced that the
figure of the Madonna is all but obliterated. This cross-head was
found among the effects of a private gentleman, Mr Robert Clarke, of
Hereford, after whose death it was "restored to the very complete
base and shaft, which stand in the churchyard." The shafts of both
crosses (monoliths, evidently from the same quarry) stand complete.
They are of octagonal section, with long pointed stops on the four
alternate sides, so that the foot of the shaft is square on plan. The
chamfer-stops of the two crosses differ slightly. Both shafts had
a similar moulded knop at their junction with the head. The Madley
cross-head is executed in a coarse, soft sandstone, which has suffered
much from disintegration. But the Tyberton head owes its better
preservation not a little to the fact that it is executed in stone of
more durable quality. Both these crosses seem to be of approximately
the same date, viz., the late-fourteenth or early-fifteenth century.
In the courtyard of the castle, St Michael's Mount, Cornwall, is a
fifteenth-century cross (Figs. 104 and 105). The head is an oblong
square on plan, measuring 1 ft. 4 in. by 1 ft., by about 3 ft. 3 in.
high to the top of the pinnacles at the angles. On one side is a
seated Madonna and Child; on the other a crucifix between Mary and
John. At one end is a male figure wearing a cap and civilian gown; at
the other a crowned figure holding what appears to be a sword. The
knop is octagonal and moulded, with Gothic square pateras round the
neck, just above the junction with the octagonal shaft.
At Derwen, in Denbighshire, there stands, immediately opposite to the
south porch of the nave, a churchyard cross, which is not only the
most perfect one in the district, but also "one of the finest in the
Principality" (Figs. 110, 111, and 112). Unfortunately, its effect is
marred by the fact that the shaft leans much out of the perpendicular,
towards the east. There are two oblong steps. "The lower portion of
the basement," writes the Rev. Elias Owen, in 1886, "has only some of
its stones remaining in position." It "measures 7 ft. 4 in. by 8 ft.
3 in. In height the step is 8 in., in breadth 1 ft. The second part
measures 6 ft. 1 in. by 5 ft. 6 in. In height the step is 10 in., in
breadth 1 ft. 4 in. The stones forming these steps are large." The
socket, or "pedestal, is a ponderous stone, 2 ft. 9 in. square at the
base, and 2 ft. 4 in. high. The upper bed is brought to an octagon by
broaches of convex outline, and the upper edge is slightly canted.
The shaft, which is mortised into the pedestal, is 13 in. square at
the base, but by sculptured heads, which serve as broaches," or stops
to the chamfering, "it becomes octagonal." The chamfers are enriched
with sculptures in relief, equidistant from one another, representing
angels, human heads, and foliage; and, at the top, oak leaves
underneath the bead moulding. Heads and quatrefoils ornament the cove
which forms the neck of the shaft. The height of the latter is 6 ft.
1 in.; and the total height of the cross, including the steps, is 13
ft. 1 in. Originally, when complete, it was higher still, but the top
of the head, which now measures 2 ft. 10 in. high, has vanished. The
result is a somewhat blunted and ungainly appearance. The head is
oblong on plan, its four faces sculptured like tabernacled niches,
enshrining sculpture. The east and west faces, 1 ft. 9 in. wide each,
have double canopies, while the ends, being no more than 1 ft. 1 in.
wide, have each a single canopy. The subjects, though much worn, can
be identified as follows: North face, the Blessed Virgin, with her
Child on her left arm; south face, St Michael, treading on the dragon,
and weighing souls in a pair of scales; east face, the Coronation of
the Blessed Virgin, with two kneeling donors, the Dove at the top of
the group sadly mutilated; west face, the Crucifixion, flanked by
Mary and John. Much of the ornamental detail suggests late-fourteenth
century work, but it is tolerably certain that it is not earlier than
the second half of the fifteenth century.
To south of the church, in the churchyard of St Donat's,
Glamorganshire, stands a cross admirable in preservation as it is also
in its proportions and detail (Figs. 108, 109). If there is a fault
to be found in it, the arms of the Christ are dragged upward in too
oblique a position. The canopy-work is superb, and, regarding the
structure as a whole, it must be pronounced an exquisite and refined
specimen of the very perfection of Gothic design. Its date is the end
of the fifteenth century.
In the south aisle of Sherburn-in-Elmet church, Yorkshire, may be
seen what looks like a pair of churchyard cross-heads (Fig. 113) of
identical design, viz., a crucifixion between Mary and John, under a
crocketed gable, the extremities of the cross ornamented with emblems
of the Passion, and the interspaces filled with exquisite late-Gothic
pierced tracery. The history of these two sculptures is a strange
one. The head of the cross had been cast down and buried at some
unknown date in the past. But it was dug up in the latter part of
the nineteenth century amid the ruins of a small chantry chapel in
the corner of the churchyard. The owners of the chantry disputed the
possession of the cross-head with the churchwardens; and, incredible
as it may seem, the dispute was settled to the satisfaction of both
parties by a method which recalls the judgment of Solomon. The head
of the cross being, Janus-like, of identical design on both sides,
was sawn asunder down through the middle, so that each of the rival
claimants received a similar sculptured ornament. One section was then
erected against the wall of a chapel on the east side of the church
porch at Sherburn, while the other section was built into a stable
wall at a farm house called Steeton Hall. Since 1887, however, the two
sundered halves, though not yet attached together as they ought to be,
have been set up close to one another in Sherburn church, a puzzle to
all who are unacquainted with their story. It should be added that the
cross-head rises out of a richly-moulded knop, below which, though the
shaft is wanting, enough remains to show that the original stem of the
cross was octagonal.
In the basement of the west tower of Pocklington church, Yorkshire,
is a beautiful late-Gothic cross-head (Figs. 114, 115), fitted on to
a modern stem and base. On the obverse is sculptured the Crucifixion
between Mary and John; on the reverse is the Trinity, while a single
figure occupies either end. Beneath is the inscription: _Orate pro
aia, Iohis Soteby_.
At Cricklade, Wiltshire, are two crosses of the fifteenth century,
one in St Mary's (Fig. 116), the other in St Sampson's churchyard
(Fig. 117). The latter example, however, was not originally in the
churchyard, but stood, at least down to 1807, as the market or town
cross. Both these crosses must, as built, have closely resembled one
another, but that at St Mary's is now much the more complete of the
two. It stands on steps. The head is lantern-shaped, an oblong on
plan, the overhang being corbelled forward by means of a demi-angel
at each angle. The tabernacling is rich, and the figure-sculpture
within it almost intact, though weather-beaten. The subject on the
west is the Crucifixion between Mary and John; on the south, the
Assumption; on the north, a bishop; and on the east, a queen with a
knight. The cross now at St Sampson's has no steps, but the socket is
handsomely panelled with sunk quatrefoils round its sides. All the
figure-sculpture from the lantern head, which was formerly corbelled
on angels, like the other, has been missing at least from 1806
onwards, if not earlier.
[Illustration 47.: ROCESTER, STAFFORDSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS, PLAN AND SECTIONS]
The village crosses of Crowcombe (Fig. 118), Bedale (Fig. 119),
Bonsall (Fig. 120), Repton (Fig. 123), Brigstock (Fig. 122), and
Child's Wickham (Fig. 7), especially those which stand on high
flights of steps adapted to the fall of the ground, all illustrate
how charmingly such structures group in with their surroundings, and
how great an ornament they contribute to the village landscape, even
though they may have been robbed of their original head. The cross at
Brigstock is comparatively intact. It bears the royal arms (quarterly
France modern and England), and the initials E.R., with the date 1586.
The cross at Child's Wickham dates from the fifteenth century. It is,
unfortunately, disfigured by an eighteenth-century urn in place of
the mediæval cross-head. In many cases the original heads have been
replaced by square blocks with sundials. At Steeple Ashton (Fig. 121),
however, the classic column and sundial-block and globe are no doubt
all of one date, the late-seventeenth, or the eighteenth century.
[Illustration: 48. ROCESTER, STAFFORDSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 49. GREAT GRIMSBY, LINCOLNSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 50. EYNSHAM, OXFORDSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 51, 52. YARNTON, OXFORDSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS, WITH DETAILS AND PLAN]
[Illustration: 53. HORSINGTON, SOMERSETSHIRE
ROADSIDE CROSS]
[Illustration: 54. DRAYTON, SOMERSETSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 55. HIGHAM FERRERS, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 56. IRTHLINGBOROUGH, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 57. MITCHEL TROY, MONMOUTHSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 58. STALBRIDGE, DORSETSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 59. CUMNOR, BERKSHIRE
REMAINS OF CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 60. STANWAY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
SOCKET OF CROSS]
[Illustration: 61. THATCHAM, BERKSHIRE
REMAINS OF CROSS IN THE STREET]
[Illustration: 62. WICKEN, CAMBRIDGESHIRE
SOCKET, AND FOOT OF SHAFT]
[Illustration: 63. CARLTON, BEDFORDSHIRE
SOCKET, AND FRAGMENT OF THE SHAFT, OF THE CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: Elevation of the Base
Plan.
64. KEYINGHAM, E.R. YORKSHIRE
SOCKET AND STEPS]
[Illustration: 65. DORCHESTER, OXFORDSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS, BEFORE RESTORATION]
[Illustration: 66, 67, 68. OMBERSLEY, WORCESTERSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS, WITH DETAIL OF SOCKET, AND ALSO THE PLAN]
[Illustration: 69, 70. HEADINGTON, OXFORDSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS, BEFORE AND AFTER RESTORATION]
[Illustration: 71. RAGLAN, MONMOUTHSHIRE
BASE OF CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 72. HEREFORD
WHITEFRIARS' CROSS, BEFORE RESTORATION]
[Illustration: 73. HEREFORD
WHITEFRIARS' CROSS, AFTER RESTORATION]
[Illustration: 74, 75, 76. DOULTING, SOMERSETSHIRE
SOCKET OF CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 77. NORTH PETHERTON, SOMERSETSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 78. DUNDRY, SOMERSETSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 79. HEDON, E.R. YORKSHIRE
THE RAVENSPURNE CROSS]
[Illustration: 80. KEYINGHAM, E.R. YORKSHIRE
OLD CROSS FROM LINCOLNSHIRE, RE-ERECTED BY THE LATE MR OWST UPON HIS
PRIVATE GROUND AT KEYINGHAM]
[Illustration: 81. SOMERSBY, LINCOLNSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 82. HALESOWEN, WORCESTERSHIRE
REMAINS OF CROSS-HEAD, SHOWING ALL FOUR SIDES]
[Illustration: 83. REMAINS OF CROSS-HEAD]
[Illustration: 83, 84, 85. NORTH HINKSEY, BERKSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS, IN PERSPECTIVE AND ELEVATION]
[Illustration: 86, 87. MAUGHOLD, ISLE OF MAN
THE VILLAGE CROSS, FROM TWO POINTS OF VIEW]
[Illustration: 88. CROXDEN, STAFFORDSHIRE
CROSS HEAD FROM THE ABBEY RUINS]
[Illustration: 89. BLEADON, SOMERSETSHIRE
HEAD OF CROSS]
[Illustration: 90, 91. NEWMARKET, FLINTSHIRE
HEAD OF CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 92, 93. WHESTON, TIDESWELL, DERBYSHIRE
ROADSIDE CROSS, SHOWING FRONT AND BACK]
[Illustration: 94, 95. LANTEGLOS JUXTA FOWEY, CORNWALL
CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD]
[Illustration: 96. ST IVES, CORNWALL
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 97, 98, 99. AMPNEY CRUCIS, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS, WITH DETAILS OF HEAD]
[Illustration: 100. TYBERTON, HEREFORDSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 101. MADLEY, HEREFORDSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 102.: MADLEY
HEAD OF CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 103. TYBERTON
REVERSE OF HEAD OF CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 104, 105. ST MICHAEL'S MOUNT, CORNWALL
HEAD OF CROSS IN THE CASTLE COURTYARD]
[Illustration: 106, 107. MAWGAN-IN-PYDER, CORNWALL
CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 108, 109. ST DONAT'S, GLAMORGANSHIRE
CHURCHYARD CROSS, WITH DETAIL OF HEAD]
[Illustration: 110, 111, 112. DERWEN, DENBIGHSHIRE
THE CORONATION OF OUR LADY
CHURCHYARD CROSS, WITH DETAILS
ST MICHAEL, WEIGHING SOULS
]
[Illustration: 113. SHERBURN-IN-ELMET, W.R. YORKSHIRE
HEAD OF THE OLD CHURCHYARD CROSS]
[Illustration: 114, 115. POCKLINGTON, E.R. YORKSHIRE
CROSS, WITH DETAIL OF HEAD]
[Illustration: 116, 117. CRICKLADE, WILTSHIRE
ST MARY'S CHURCHYARD CROSS
THE TOWN CROSS, NOW REMOVED TO ST SAMPSON'S CHURCH]
[Illustration: 118. CROWCOMBE, SOMERSET
VILLAGE CROSS]
[Illustration: 119. BEDALE, N.R. YORKSHIRE]
[Illustration: 120. BONSALL, DERBYSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 121. STEEPLE ASHTON, WILTSHIRE
VILLAGE CROSS]
[Illustration: 122. BRIGSTOCK, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 123. REPTON, DERBYSHIRE
VILLAGE CROSS]
IV. SPIRE-SHAPED, OR ELEANOR CROSSES
On 28th November 1290 the Queen-Consort, Eleanor of Castile, died
at Harby, in Nottinghamshire. Edward I., prostrated with grief--the
sincerity of his devotion to his wife was perhaps the most favourable
trait in his character--resolved to perpetuate her memory by erecting
crosses at the various stopping-places of the funeral procession
on its way to London. The route chosen, though not the most direct
one, was arranged expressly so that the body might rest, each night
of its journey, at some large and important town, or else at some
conventual house, for the fitting celebration of the solemn offices
for the dead. A stone cross was built, if not upon the exact spot,
in the near neighbourhood of the spot, where the body had reposed
on each occasion, viz., at Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington,
Northampton, or rather Hardingston (reached on 9th December), Stony
Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St Albans (13th December), Waltham, or
rather Cheshunt, London (where the body lay for the night, probably in
St Paul's Cathedral, a cross being afterwards erected in West Cheap),
and, finally, Charing village, which was the last halting-place on the
way to the entombment in Westminster Abbey on 17th December. There
were set up altogether twelve Eleanor crosses. Some have reckoned the
number at fifteen, supposing that similar crosses were erected also at
Harby, Newark, and Leicester, but of these there is no evidence.
So far as can be judged from documents and existing remains, it would
seem that certain principal features were common to the design of all
the crosses of the series, although they varied in minor details.
The general outline was borrowed from that of a spire of diminishing
stages. A statue of Queen Eleanor occupied each of the niches in the
middle storey; a notable peculiarity being the multiplication of the
effigies of the person commemorated. Three or four statues of the
queen occur in one and the same monument, standing, backs to the
central shaft, their faces looking forward in opposite directions.
The lowest stage or storey was carved with blind tracery, so designed
as to divide, with a vertical moulding, each side, or cant, into two
panels, with trefoil cusping in the head, having heraldic shields, one
in each panel. The shields respectively bore the arms of (1) England
(three leopards only, for the kings of England had not yet arrogated
to themselves the sovereignty of France); (2) quarterly, Castile and
Leon, the arms of Queen Eleanor's father; and (3) Ponthieu (three
bendlets within a bordure), the arms of her mother, Joanna, Countess
of Ponthieu, in Picardy.
Not the slightest remains of any of the original crosses exist _in
situ_, except at Geddington, Northampton, and Waltham. Regrettable
as is the disappearance of all but three crosses of the series, it
is yet a matter for congratulation that those which do happen to
survive represent each of them an individual variety of treatment;
for, however much they may resemble one another in details, or even
in their main scheme and proportions, the difference of plan is a
fundamental factor, and such that necessarily results in striking
divergences. Geddington cross is triangular, Waltham cross hexagonal,
and Northampton cross octagonal on plan. Of these three there can be
no question that that at Geddington (Figs. 124 and 125), on account of
its triangular section, is the least satisfying aesthetically; indeed,
its optical effect is, in certain aspects, decidedly unpleasing. Not
only does it look as though part of the fabric were missing, or the
whole structure lop-sided, but the anomalous position of the shafts,
or standards, rising at each outer angle right before the face of the
figures, gives the latter a caged appearance, and, by intercepting a
direct view of them, infallibly detracts from the prominence which
is their proper due. The triangular shape, then, is more diverting
as an ingenious planning experiment than admirable as a model for
reproduction. In plain words, it is an architectural eccentricity.
Again, Geddington cross, encrusted as is the entire surface with
sculptured diaper patterns, and lacking as it does the dignified
reticence of contrasted plain spaces, such as occur in Northampton
(Figs. 1 and 126) and Waltham (Figs. 127, 128, and 129) crosses,
must compare unfavourably with either of them. Whoever the designer
of Geddington cross may have been, it is certain he was not the
artist that Battle or Crundale was, to whose genius the crosses of
Northampton and Waltham respectively are owing.
Royal account rolls, extant down to the year 1293, throw considerable
light on the progress of the work, the identity of the artists
engaged on it, and the cost of their services, as well as of the
material used. But the particulars of the several undertakings are not
always kept distinct, so that it is difficult, if not impossible, to
disentangle the precise amount of the cost of any individual cross.
John, of Battle, a master mason, contracted for his share of the work
of a number of crosses, viz., at Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn,
Dunstable, and St Albans, for £95 each. The imagery and much of the
ornamental sculpture was executed in London. The figures of the queen,
for the crosses of Lincoln and Northampton, were the work of William,
of Ireland; while Alexander, of Abingdon, another image maker,
provided the statues for other crosses, the figures all being produced
at a uniform rate of five marks, or £3. 6s. 8d. each. Purbeck marble,
from the quarries at Corfe, was used for parts of the crosses at
Lincoln, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Dunstable, St Albans, Waltham,
and Charing.
The first of the stopping-places at which crosses were erected was
Lincoln. The Eleanor cross there "stood on Swine Green, opposite the
Gilbertine Priory of St Catherine, where the queen's body rested." The
cross was built by Richard, of Stowe, otherwise Gainsborough, then
master mason of the works of the cathedral. From time to time, during
the years 1291 to 1293, he received payments, amounting to £106. 13s.
4d., for the king's work. The statues, and some of the carved ornament
for the cross, were executed at Westminster by William, of Ireland,
called in the accounts "_Imaginator_" _i.e._, image maker. William,
as mentioned above, received £3. 6s. 8d. each for the statues of the
queen; while the ornaments for the head of the cross seem to have
cost £13. It is computed that the total cost of the cross at Lincoln
amounted to about £134. Not a vestige of it now remains.
The cross at Grantham, Lincolnshire, stood in an open space on the
London road, at a place called Peter Church Hill. Dr William Stukeley,
in 1776, recorded that the people had some memory of it in his time;
and, moreover, he was shown "a stone carved with foliage work, said to
be part of it." All remains of the cross have long since vanished.
In his account of Stamford, Lincolnshire, printed in 1646, Richard
Butcher says: "Not far from High Dike, on the north side of the town
of Stamford, near unto York highway, and about twelve score from the
Towngate, called Clement Gate, stands an ancient cross of freestone,
of a very curious fabric, having many scutcheons insculped in the
stone about it, as the arms of Castile and Leon quartered ... and
divers other hatchments," of which "only the ruins appear to the
eye." In the edition of 1659, the cross is referred to in the past
tense, showing that it had been removed in the interval. R. Symond,
in a note dated August 1645, writes: "On the hill, before ye come
to the town (of Stamford), stands a lofty, large cross.... Upon the
top of this cross these three shields are often carved: (1) England,
(2) Ponthieu, (3) Castile and Leon quarterly." The cross was pulled
down by the soldiers of the Parliament during the Civil War, but the
foundations were laid bare, in the process of excavations conducted by
Dr Stukeley, while vicar of All Saints, Stamford, 1729 to 1747.
[Illustration: 124. GEDDINGTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
PLAN OF ELEANOR CROSS]
[Illustration: 125. GEDDINGTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
ELEANOR CROSS, IN THE VILLAGE]
The Eleanor cross at Geddington, Northamptonshire, is still standing,
in the middle of a wide space in the village. The principal part of
the material is Weldon stone, but the string courses and weatherings
are of Stanion stone, which has a slightly harder texture. The cross
is raised on eight hexagonal steps; it comprises three storeys, and is
little short of 42 ft. in height. As may be seen by the plan (in which
the spaces A, B, and C represent the situation of the figures),
the middle stage is so placed in relation to that beneath it that
its outer angles correspond with the middle of each side in the lower
stage. The base is a triangle of equal sides; each 5 ft. 1 in. wide.
The royal accounts, which are wanting from the year 1294 onward,
contain no entry referring to Geddington cross; whence it has been
inferred that the latter could not have been erected until 1294 or
after. Tradition says that a favourite sport of the place used to be
squirrel-baiting. A sufficient number of wild squirrels having been
caught for the purpose, would be turned loose in the village, where
the crowds, surrounding them in a ring, with shouts and all manner
of hideous noises, proceeded to hunt and beat their helpless victims
to death. Sometimes the terrified little creatures would vainly seek
refuge by running up the cross and trying to hide behind the pinnacles
and tabernacle work. But their cruel tormentors ruthlessly dislodged
them thence, pelting them with stones until they were driven forth and
killed. The only marvel, in the circumstances, is that any part of the
original stonework of the cross should have survived such reckless
violence. The cross was repaired in 1800, and again in 1890.
The famous Eleanor cross of Northampton (Figs. 1, 126) stands about a
mile distant from the town, and actually in the parish of Hardingston.
The monument is picturesquely placed on a roadside bank, with a fine
background of trees. The spot was chosen because Delapré, close by, a
house of Cluniac nuns, afforded the funeral procession a convenient
halt for the night. For the more solid parts of the cross, as distinct
from its ornamental detail, Barnack stone seems to have been used. The
mason responsible for the design, as already mentioned, was John, of
Battle. The sculptor, William, of Ireland, was paid £25 for his work,
including the ornamental carvings and the four statues (nearly 6 ft.
high) of the queen at £3. 6s. 8d. apiece. The distinctive feature of
this cross, not known to have occurred on any other of the series,
is an open book carved on every alternate one of the eight sides of
the lowest storey. The latter is about 14 ft. high, the next storey
above it 12 ft. high. At the present day there are nine steps, all
octagonal on plan. Formerly there were seven, while the engraving in
_Vetusta Monumenta_, 1791, depicts eight steps. What was the original
termination of this cross will never be known. It disappeared so long
ago that, even in 1460, the monument was spoken of as "_crux sine
capite_." The first recorded "restoration" of the cross took place in
1713. At the Quarter Sessions in that year the Justices authorised the
expenditure of a sum not exceeding £30 on repairing the cross, which
accordingly underwent thorough "restoration" and partial rebuilding.
There was then erected on the summit a stone cross paty, 3 ft. high,
while gnomons for sundials, facing the four cardinal points, were
fixed to the tracery of the topmost storey. Also, on the west side
of the bottom storey were placed the arms of Queen Anne and a marble
tablet, with a long inscription in Latin. Further repairs were
effected in 1762; and the cross was renovated once again, under the
direction of the architect, Edward Blore, in 1840. The commemorative
tablets and the modern cross on the summit were then removed, a
broken shaft being erected in place of the cross paty. Blore, at the
same time, renewed the ornamental cresting, one of the gables, and
much of the substantial stonework of the cross; and he recut all but
two of the armorial shields. In 1884 further repairs were effected,
consisting mainly of the renewal and strengthening of the decayed
platform steps. In March 1900 the care and maintenance of the cross
were formally vested in the County Council.
[Illustration: 126. NORTHAMPTON, (HARDINGSTON)
THE ELEANOR CROSS]
[Illustration: 127, 128. CHESHUNT, HERTFORDSHIRE
WALTHAM CROSS]
The Eleanor cross at Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, was built by
John Battle and his assistants, Simon, of Pabenham, and others, the
ornamental sculpture, comprising shafts, heads, and bands, being
executed by Ralph, of Chichester. This cross stood "a little north of
the Horseshoe Inn." It was pulled down by the Puritans about 1646,
but Cole, the antiquary, was assured by an old inhabitant "that he
remembered part of it remaining at the western extremity of the town."
The same executants carried out the Bedfordshire crosses of Woburn and
Dunstable. The last-named is described as "having been a cross of
wonderful size. It stood in the main street ... where Watling Street
crosses the Icknield way"; and "is said to have been demolished by
troops, under the Earl of Essex, in 1643. Parts of" its "foundation
... have been met with during recent alterations in the roadway" (Dr
James Galloway, 1914). "In the heart of the town" of St Albans stood
another Eleanor cross, described in 1596 as "verie stately," the same
executants as in the preceding instances being employed. The greater
part of this cross was "destroyed by order of Parliament in 1643.
Fragments, however, stood in the market place" until 1702, when they
were cleared away to make room for the erection of an octagonal market
house in 1703.
[Illustration: 129. CHESHUNT
SECTION OF MIDDLE STOREY OF WALTHAM CROSS]
Waltham Cross (Figs. 127, 128, and 129) stands at the junction of
Eleanor Cross Road and High Street, in the parish of Cheshunt,
Hertfordshire. The monument was the work of Roger Crundale and Dyminge
de Ligeri, or de Reyns, in or about 1293. It was built largely of Caen
stone. Apart from the difference necessarily entailed by its hexagonal
plan, Waltham Cross in many respects recalls that of Hardingston,
Northampton. In 1721 Dr Stukeley contributed to _Vetusta Monumenta_
an imaginary "restoration"; which was followed, in April 1791, by an
engraving, by Basire, from Schnebbelie's drawing, showing the cross
in its actual state. It had by then become much dilapidated, nothing
having been done to keep it in repair beyond the strengthening of
the base with new brickwork in 1757. It is believed that the cross
originally stood upon ten steps. These had entirely disappeared by
1791. The present steps, four in number, are quite modern. The cross,
having been renovated in 1833 to 1834, and again in 1887 to 1889, has
lost so much that practically no part of the original fabric beyond
the core, the three figures, and parts of the lowest storey, survives.
The pinnacle at the top is a conjectural "restoration," the ancient
head, as in the cases also of Geddington and Northampton crosses,
having so utterly perished as to leave no indication of how the cross
should properly terminate.
[Illustration: 130, 131. LONDON, WEST CHEAP
REMAINS FROM THE ELEANOR CROSS, IN THE GUILDHALL MUSEUM]
[Illustration: 132. LONDON, WEST CHEAP
THE SECOND OF THE THREE CROSSES ERECTED ON THE SPOT]
[Illustration: 133, 134: LONDON, WEST CHEAP
THE THIRD CROSS ERECTED ON THE SPOT]
[Illustration: 135. CHARING
DETAIL OF OLD PROSPECT, SHOWING POSITION OF CHARING CROSS]
West Cheap Cross (Figs. 130-134) stood in the middle of the roadway,
opposite to the spot where Wood Street opens at right angles out of
Cheapside. Three successive crosses have occupied this identical
position. The first was an Eleanor cross, built by the mason,
Michael, of Canterbury, who contracted to execute the work for £300.
The character of the design may be judged from two fragments of the
stone panelling of the lowest storey, now preserved in the Guildhall
Museum (Figs. 130 and 131). These exhibit trefoil cusping, and the
same armorial shields which occur in the three existing crosses at
Geddington, Northampton, and Waltham. Some twenty years after its
erection, Cheapside Cross figured in the festivities which followed
the birth of Prince Edward (afterwards King Edward III.) on 13th
November 1312. A great pageant was organised in the City in honour of
the occasion, and at the cross in Cheap a pavilion was set up, and in
it a tun of wine placed, from which all who passed by might freely
drink. From whatever cause, the cross was so soon allowed to fall into
disrepair that its reconstruction came to be contemplated when it
had been standing only about seventy-five years, Sir Robert Launde,
knight, whose will is dated 1367, making a bequest to the building of
the cross in Cheapside. The matter at last became so urgent that, in
1441, Henry VI. issued a licence to the Mayor of London to rebuild
the cross "in more beautiful manner." The new cross, raised mainly
at the cost of the City, was not finished until 1486. Why it should
have taken so long a space of time to bring it to completion is not
apparent. It was a very sumptuous and elaborate structure; but its
builders did not attempt to adhere to the model of an Eleanor cross,
Scripture subjects and figures of saints taking the place of the
statues of the Queen. The monument was surmounted by a crucifix, with
a dove over it; the other sculptures comprising the Resurrection,
the Blessed Virgin and Child, and St Edward the Confessor. During
the night of 21st June 1581, unknown iconoclasts defaced all these
figures, that of the Blessed Virgin in the upper tier being subjected
to greater indignities than the rest. In addition to being mutilated
it was discovered to have been bound with ropes, ready to be torn
down. A reward was offered for the apprehension of the offenders,
but they were never caught. Queen Elizabeth notified to the Court of
Aldermen her wish that the damage should be made good. "The Lord Mayor
thereupon wrote to the Lords of the Council, asking Her Majesty's
further directions; and he was particularly anxious touching the
repairing and garnishing of the images of the cross." In 1595 the
image of the Blessed Virgin was renovated and made secure. In 1596
a new Infant was placed in her arms, an addition which was coarsely
and clumsily rendered, as one would expect at that period. Four years
after, on the plea that the woodwork of the upper part, including the
cross on the top of all, was out of repair, a pyramid was substituted
for the former finial cross, and a semi-nude statue of Diana for that
of the Blessed Virgin. Queen Elizabeth ordered that a plain gilt cross
should be set up on the summit of the pyramid. The City magnates
demurred, but ultimately complied. Next, the statue of the Blessed
Virgin was restored, and the whole structure cleansed; but only twelve
nights after the erection of the new statue of the Virgin, the latter
was again attacked, decrowned, and nearly beheaded, and the figure of
the Infant taken away. In the course of its existence the cross of
1441 to 1486 had been repeatedly repaired and regilt. It had already
lost every trace of its fifteenth-century origin by 1547, when, on
19th February, the coronation procession of Edward VI. passed
at its foot, an incident which was depicted by a contemporary, or
nearly contemporary, hand upon the stucco walls of the dining hall at
Cowdray House, near Midhurst, Sussex (Fig. 132). The mural painting,
unfortunately, perished in the devastating fire at Cowdray on the
night of 24th to 25th September 1793. The rebuilding of Cheapside
Cross was resolved upon in 1600. The new cross was erected in 1606
(Figs. 133 and 134). The question of the advisability of crowning
the latter with a crucifix having been raised, the two Universities
were formally consulted on the subject. Opinions were divided, but
Dr George Abbot, then Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, and afterwards
Archbishop of Canterbury, pronounced definitely against a crucifix.
A simple cross, therefore, unaccompanied by a dove, was attached to
the top of the new structure; while the base was encircled by an iron
railing as a precaution against attack. This, the third and last of
the Cheapside crosses, stood for a shorter period than either of its
predecessors. It was overthrown on 2nd May 1643, as recorded by Evelyn
in his _Diary_, under this date, in the following passage: "I went
to London, where I saw the furious and zealous people demolish that
stately Crosse in Cheapside."
[Illustration: 136, 137. CHARING, NEAR LONDON
THE ELEANOR CROSS, AND THE CROSS WHICH SUCCEEDED THE FORMER ON THE
SAME SITE]
Charing Cross, built to commemorate the last resting-place of the
Queen's body before it reached Westminster Abbey, occupied, as the
detail from a prospect, by Ralph Agas (_c._ 1560), of London and
neighbourhood shows (Fig. 135), approximately the same site where
Herbert Le Sueur's superb equestrian statue of Charles I. now stands.
The original cross (Fig. 136) is described as having been the finest
and stateliest of all the Eleanor crosses. It was the work of Richard
Crundale, who, dying in 1293, was succeeded by Roger Crundale; and
Alexander, of Ireland, carved the statues of the Queen for the cross,
which is computed to have cost nearly £800. By 1590 it had become much
weather-beaten and defaced with age. It may have been about this time
that the old cross was entirely rebuilt, the Gothic work disappearing,
and a monument of new design, in the current fashion of the day, being
erected in its place (Fig. 137). The Parliament having decreed the
destruction of the cross in 1643, it was finally demolished in the
summer of 1647. Lilly, writing in 1715, says that some of the stones
of the old fabric were used for the pavement in front of Whitehall,
while others were cut up and polished to make knife handles and other
small objects as souvenirs.
With Eleanor crosses there should be classed a small group of crosses,
which, though erected neither for the same purpose nor at the same
time as the Eleanor crosses, yet closely resemble the latter in being
fashioned in the graceful shape of a spire of diminishing stages.
[Illustration: 138. GLOUCESTER
HIGH CROSS]
The old cross at Gloucester (Fig. 138) stood on elevated ground at the
meeting of Northgate, Southgate, and Westgate Streets. It was raised
on steps, and was octagonal on plan. The ground storey, and the next
above it, dated apparently from about 1320. But the uppermost storey,
consisting of a cluster of turrets with little vanes, the central
turret or shaft surmounted by an orb and fourways cross, can hardly
have been any earlier than the sixteenth century. Coventry Cross (Fig.
8) had similar vanes which (called _girouettes_ in French, because of
their gyrating or revolving with the wind), being gilt, and glittering
gaily in the sunlight, imparted additional charm to the stone crosses
whereto they were attached. The total height of Gloucester Cross was
34 ft. 6 in. When drawn in 1750, on the eve of its demolition, the
cross contained, in the niches of its middle storey, statues of the
following kings and queens of England:--King John, Henry II., Queen
Eleanor, Edward III., Richard II., Richard III., Queen Elizabeth, and
Charles I. The whole was surrounded by an iron railing of obviously
later date than the cross itself.
[Illustration: 139, 140. TOTTENHAM, MIDDLESEX
HIGH CROSS, BEFORE AND AFTER "RESTORATION"]
The old market cross at Abingdon, Berkshire, is said to have been
erected by the Guild of the Holy Cross, a fraternity attached to St
Helen's Parish Church. The cross was repaired in 1605; and, on the
occasion of the signing of the Treaty with the Scots in 1641, two
thousand persons assembled round it to sing a psalm of thanksgiving.
It was destroyed by Waller's army in 1644. The structure was both
later in date and more elaborate than any other of its class except
Coventry Cross (Fig. 8), to which, in very many respects, it bore a
striking resemblance. Abingdon Cross, however, was octagonal, whereas
that of Coventry was hexagonal on plan. The lowest stage of either
cross was solid, with surface tracery-panelling; while each of the
three diminishing stages above consisted of niches with figures,
and was further enriched with flying buttresses and with pinnacles
surmounted by king's beasts holding iron rods, or pivots, to which
were attached metal vanes like little banners. The similarity between
the two crosses is explained by the fact that, in bequeathing £200 on
25th December 1541 for building a new cross at Coventry, Sir William
Holles, formerly Lord Mayor of London, expressly directed that it was
to be modelled upon that already existing at Abingdon. Coventry Cross,
then, was begun in 1541 and finished in 1544. It stood 57 ft. high,
mounted on three steps, and was divided into four stages comprising
in all eighteen niches for statues. The statues in the first-floor
storey, reckoning from the south, were Henry IV., King John, Edward
I., Henry II., Richard I., and Henry V.; in the second storey, Edward
III., St Michael, Henry III., St George, and Richard II.; and in the
uppermost storey, a religious, St Peter, a religious, a king, St James
the Less, and St Christopher. Above the topmost storey the cross
swelled out into a tabernacled lantern surmounted by a metal vane
pierced with the Royal arms (quarterly France, modern, and England),
the supporting rod having a crown upon its summit. In later times the
cross was surmounted by allegorical figures of Justice and Mercy.
The cross underwent some repairs in 1629; but on 12th August 1668
a covenant was entered upon by the Mayor and certain stone cutters
and masons for the thorough renewing of all defective parts of the
stonework, with "good, sure stone from Sroby quarry," Warwickshire, as
well as the iron and lead necessary for fixing the statues. Their work
completed, the masons were to leave all the scaffolding in position,
that the gilders and painters might then carry out their share of
the embellishing. The total cost of the work executed in 1668, and
following year, was £276. 2s. 1d. By 1760 nothing survived of the
structure but the lowest storey and a portion of that above it. And in
1771 the last vestiges of Coventry Cross were bodily swept away.
To this same type belongs the High Cross at Tottenham (Figs. 139,
140), Middlesex, although at the present day it sadly belies its real
character. Dressed, as it is, in Gothic mouldings, crockets, and
panel-work, it looks as though it should belong, at least, to the
latter half of the fourteenth century (Fig. 140). But the ornament,
unfortunately, is a mere superficial casing of nineteenth-century
creation; and, to judge from an engraving, of the year 1788,
representing the cross as it stood before it underwent falsification
(Fig. 139), it can scarcely date any further back than the early part
of the sixteenth century.
Again, the ancient Butter Cross, at Scarborough, which stands, or at
least in 1860 stood, in Low Conduit Street, was of the same type, but
square on plan. In fact, it may be described as shaped exactly like
an obelisk, only with early-fourteenth-century Gothic details. How
far such an object may, or may not, have been genuine, it is perhaps
wisest to leave an open question.
V. PREACHING CROSSES
Whether or not preaching crosses, for the delivery of outdoor sermons,
were required before the advent of the Friars in the first half of the
thirteenth century, it may be assumed that, from that time forward,
they did exist and were in use. The Dominicans, or Black Friars, came
to England in 1221; the Franciscans, or Grey Friars, in or about 1224;
the Carmelites, or White Friars, in 1240, and the Austin Friars in
1250. Twenty years after the arrival of the first of the Friars occurs
the first recorded mention of Paul's Cross, which attained afterwards
to the dignity of the most celebrated of all preaching crosses,
not merely in London, nor even in England alone, but throughout
Christendom. It must be stated, however, that no actual record of the
cross as a preaching-place is found before 1382; the cross at the
outset being resorted to rather for secular and general assemblies of
the people. But in course of time, perhaps by reason of its convenient
situation, the cross seems to have been the focus of every phase of
the life of the capital; many of the most stirring and momentous
events in English history, whether civil or ecclesiastical, being
enacted beneath its shadow. The full story of Paul's Cross would fill
volumes. Yet a few representative episodes are enough to show of what
varied scenes and movements it was the centre. At the cross took place
the promulgation of laws, public announcements, political propaganda,
the reading of Papal Bulls, the administration of oaths, elections,
examinations, recantations, and the performance of public penances;
while in the sermons preached in the pulpit of Paul's Cross, each
successive variety of religious opinion was propounded from the time
of the Lollards, and through the successive stages of the Reformation
and counter-Reformation, until the cross itself came to an end in the
reign of Charles I.
The first specific mention of Paul's Cross was in 1241, when King
Henry III. met an assemblage of the citizens of London there before
he set out for Gascony in connection with the French war. From that
time onward there occur very numerous references to Paul's Cross, "the
earlier ones, for the most part, recording meetings of the citizens
there." The earliest notice of the cross as a place of proclamation
was in 1256-57, when Justice Mansell read a document of the king's,
assuring the citizens of his purpose to preserve their rights and
liberties. In 1257 the king, having called a folk-moot at the cross,
was present in person; and again met his subjects there in 1258. In
1259-60 another folk-moot was held at the cross by Henry III., on
which occasion proclamation was made, requiring every stripling to
take the oath of allegiance to the crown. In October 1261 a bull of
Pope Urban was read at the cross by the king's order. In 1266 the king
made Alan la Zouche constable and warden of the City in the presence
of the people at Paul's Cross. On 13th May 1269 a bull of Pope
Innocent was read; and in 1274-75 the Mayor of London was elected in a
folk-moot at the cross.
[Illustration: 141. LONDON
PAUL'S CROSS]
"In 1311 the new statutes, made in the Parliament of that year, were
published and proclaimed ... _super crucem lapideam_"; whence it has
been inferred by Mr Paley Baildon, F.S.A., that Paul's Cross, or
the High Cross, as it was also called, must have comprised a raised
platform surrounded by a parapet, with a lofty shaft in the middle,
somewhat after the fashion of the Mercat Cross at Edinburgh, the cross
at Aberdeen, and other Scottish examples.
[Illustration: 142. LONDON
PAUL'S CROSS]
On 7th March 1378, during the time when the Bishop of Carlisle was
preaching at the cross, he was disturbed by a tumult arising out of a
quarrel between certain trade corporations hard by in West Cheap. From
that date onward, down to 1633, sermons at Paul's Cross were of very
frequent occurrence.
In 1378 also, the Bishop of London excommunicated at Paul's Cross
the murderers of Robert Hawle and two other victims, who had been
sacrilegiously slain in the quire of Westminster Abbey during the
solemnisation of High Mass on 11th August. On 12th July 1382 the
Archbishop issued an order that the preacher at the cross, whoever
he might be, on the following Sunday was to take advantage of the
occasion, when the fullest number of persons should be gathered
together for the sermon, to denounce publicly and solemnly two
contumacious heretics, Nicholas Hereford and Philip Reppyingdon,
"holding up the cross and lighting of candles, and throwing the same
down upon the ground, to have been, and still to be so excommunicated
by us."
In the same year, 1382, Paul's Cross suffered very great injury from
tempest or earthquake; and on 18th May 1387 Archbishop Courtenay and
other Bishops, desirous of repairing the damage, offered an indulgence
to any of the faithful who should contribute toward that object. In
two years' time the cross seems to have been put in order. Thomas
Kempe, Bishop of London, however, rebuilt it, some time between 1449
and 1470; giving it the aspect which illustrations have made familiar,
viz., an octagonal pulpit of wood, raised on stone steps and roofed
with a lead-covered cupola, surmounted by a large cross (Figs. 141
and 142). The arms of Bishop Kempe were introduced in several places
on the roof. From the time of the erection of this new pulpit-cross,
the old name of High Cross, applicable to the different form of the
earlier structure, seems to have died out of use.
Meanwhile, on Quinquagesima Sunday 1388, a great stir was caused by a
Wycliffite sermon preached at Paul's Cross by R. Wimbledon. In 1401,
under pressure from Archbishop Arundel, two Wycliffites, John Purvey,
and a doctor of divinity, named Herford, recanted their errors at
Paul's Cross.
In 1457 Bishop Pecocke, of Chichester, a prelate, so it would appear,
of sadly "modernist" tendencies, made his submission at Paul's Cross,
abjured his unorthodoxy, and submitted to the burning of his books
at the same time and place. In a sermon at the cross, on 4th March
1461-62, the Bishop of Exeter urged the justice of the title of Prince
Edward of York to the throne. In 1483 Jane Shore was compelled to do
public penance at Paul's Cross; and on 19th June of the same year
the Lord Mayor's brother, Dr Ralph Shaw, in his sermon at the cross,
openly intimated that the validity of Edward V.'s right to the crown
was questionable, and that there were substantial reasons (which did,
in fact, ultimately prevail) why both of the young princes should be
debarred from succession.
[Illustration: 143. HEREFORD
BLACK FRIARS' CROSS]
[Illustration: 144. IRON ACTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
PREACHING CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD]
On a certain Sunday, in 1492, two men did public penance for heresy,
standing at Paul's Cross "all the sermon time, the one garnished with
painted and written papers, the other having a faggot on his neck."
On Passion Sunday another man "with a faggot stood before the preacher
all the sermon while at Paul's Cross; and on the Sunday next following
(Palm Sunday), four men stood and did their open penance ... in the
sermon time, and many of their books were burnt before them at the
Cross."
On 12th May 1521, in the presence of Cardinal Wolsey, Bishop Fisher,
of Rochester, delivered at Paul's Cross a sermon in denunciation of
the German heresiarch, Luther.
In 1534 the king, Henry VIII., caused sermons to be preached against
his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and also against Papal supremacy.
In the same year, Elizabeth Burton and six of her most prominent
supporters (all of them ultimately hanged at Tyburn) were brought to
Paul's Cross for public exposure and degradation there, for the crime
of having dared to express disapproval of the king's liaison with Anne
Boleyn.
On 24th February 1538, the Rood of Grace, from Boxley Abbey, in Kent,
an image which was alleged, by means of wires and other devices, to
simulate various gestures and changes of countenance, was exhibited at
Paul's Cross by Bishop Hilsey, of Rochester, and, at his incitement,
broken and plucked to pieces amid the jeers of the mob. "The like
was done by the blood of Hayles, which in like manner, by Crumwell,
was brought to Paul's Cross, and there proved to be the blood of a
duck," according to the veracious Foxe. From this time onward Paul's
Cross witnessed the delivery of a succession of controversial sermons,
first on one side and then on the other. When Edward VI. ascended the
throne, Bishop Latimer, of Worcester, became a frequent preacher at
Paul's Cross. Thus in the month of January 1548 he preached no less
than four times.
In 1549 the Privy Council delivered to Bishop Bonner a set of
articles, which he was required to advocate in a series of quarterly
sermons at Paul's Cross. But the Bishop in preaching there having
neglected to comply, was cited, on information laid against him by
Latimer and Hooper, to appear for examination before the King's
commissioners on 10th September 1549.
On 1st November 1552, at Paul's Cross, Bishop Ridley, of London,
preached at great length in favour of the latest version of the Book
of Common Prayer.
On 13th August 1553 Gilbert Bourne, a chaplain of Queen Mary, and
Canon of St Paul's, preaching at the cross, narrowly escaped being
murdered. One of the audience aimed a dagger at the preacher. The
weapon, missing its mark, the point became embedded in one of the
wooden posts of the pulpit. On the following Sunday Thomas Watson,
preaching at the same place, was protected by a guard of 200 soldiers
with halberds. At the same time an order was issued forbidding
apprentices to attend the sermon, armed with knives or daggers.
On 2nd December 1554, in the presence of Cardinal Pole, the
Lord-Chancellor preached at Paul's Cross commending the reconciliation
of the kingdom, and its restoration to communion with the Holy See.
[Illustration: 145. WINCHESTER
BUTTER CROSS]
Abbot Feckenham preached at the cross on 18th June 1555, and Dr Hugh
Glasier, Queen Mary's chaplain, on 25th August of the same year.
On 27th October 1584 Samuel Harsnett, subsequently Archbishop of York,
delivered at Paul's Cross a sermon, which caused no little stir, on
Predestination.
On 20th August 1588 Dean Newell made, at the cross, the first public
announcement of the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
On 17th November 1595, at a special thanksgiving service for the long
reign of Queen Elizabeth, Bishop Fletcher, of London, preached at
Paul's Cross, which had been repaired and partly enclosed with a low
brick wall for the occasion.
In 1616, at the instance of Harry Farley, one John Gipkyn painted
a panel picture, in which he represented, by anticipation, the
attendance of James I. at a sermon at Paul's Cross, which actually
came to pass on 26th March 1620. The panel now in the possession of
the Society of Antiquaries affords the most authentic view extant of
the preaching cross (see Fig. 142).
Charles I. attended in state to hear a sermon at the cross in 1630,
and Archbishop Laud preached there in 1631, perhaps the last preacher
of eminence to occupy the pulpit--for in 1633 the use of Paul's
Cross as an open-air pulpit was formally abandoned. Its consequent
demolition cannot have been long delayed, although it has been
contended that the cross was pulled down only that the pulpit might
be reconstructed on a grander scale--a project which, however, was
never attempted. In a publication of the year 1641 occurs the passage:
"Paul's Crosse, the most famous preaching-place, is downe and quite
taken away," which shows that the date usually given for the abolition
of the cross, viz., 1643, cannot be correct. But it is the fact
that, in May 1643, the parishioners of St Faith's complained of the
obstruction caused by the presence of "stones, rubbish, and pales" in
the churchyard, presumably the uncleared refuse from the demolished
cross. In time the very site was forgotten; but in the spring of 1879
it was discovered by Mr C. F. Penrose, the cathedral surveyor. The
cross stood about 12 ft. from the wall of Old St Paul's; and close
to the north-east corner of Wren's cathedral. The octagonal base
measured some 37 ft. across. "The platform itself," writes Rev. W.
Sparrow Simpson, "was supported by a vault. A brick wall was found
which probably carried the timber supports of the pulpit proper. The
probable diameter of the pulpit itself was 18 ft."
Paul's Cross was not the only preaching cross in London. There were,
at least, two others. One stood in the churchyard on the south side
of St Michael's, Cornhill. This cross was built by Sir John Rudstone,
Mayor, who, dying in 1531, was buried beneath it. St Mary Spital,
without Bishopsgate, also had an open-air pulpit-cross, where special
sermons were preached in Easter week, year by year.
[Illustration: 146, 147. LEIGHTON BUZZARD, BEDFORDSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
In the majority of cases it is likely enough that there was not
a distinctive pulpit-cross, the steps of the ordinary churchyard
cross sufficing to afford a platform for the preacher, when occasion
required. There remain, indeed, no more than two crosses obviously and
primarily designed as preaching crosses, viz., that at Iron Acton,
Gloucestershire, and the Black Friars' Cross at Hereford.
The preaching cross at Iron Acton (Fig. 144) stands in the north
part of the churchyard, and is a very good example of its kind. The
base, 10 ft. 9 in. in diameter at the ground level, consists of three
brick-built steps, topped with stone slabs, forming drips with a
slight overhang. These steps are octagonal on plan. Upon the second
step (and thus encompassing the top step and the low stone plinth
resting on the same) stand the piers of the cross. The piers are
buttressed each with one diagonal buttress, like the cross itself,
square on plan. The arched openings (2 ft. 11 in. wide) are obtuse
headed. One arch (the northern one according to Lysons, the southern
one according to Charles Pooley) is open from top to bottom to make
an entrance doorway. The three others are railed in with a low fence,
composed of a pair of arches, cusped in the head, beneath a transom.
The mullions between these small arches had disappeared previously to
1868; so the present mullions are modern restorations. The ceiling
within is vaulted, with ribs and sculptured bosses, some of the latter
representing acorns and oak leaves. In the centre, forming a pendant,
are the remains of a capital of an octagonal shaft, now perished,
though the traces of its footing on the floor were remarked by Charles
Pooley in, or shortly before, 1868. The whole cross upward from the
springing level of the principal arches is sadly mutilated, all the
pinnacles, as well as the statues, wanting. The total height of that
which survives of the cross is 19 ft. 2 in. The upper part is a shaft
with four panelled sides, having, at the foot of each, between a
pair of shields borne by demi-angels clad in albs, a pedestal for
a standing statue, with projecting canopy overhead. Of these eight
shields four exhibit emblems of the Passion; two are blank and two are
armorial. One of these last is quarterly per fesse dancetty argent
and gules, Acton; while the other shield is Acton as before, impaling
quarterly or and gules a bend argent, Fitz-Nichol. Robert Poyntz,
lord of the manor of Iron Acton, married, for second wife, Catherine,
daughter of Sir Thomas Fitz-Nichol, and died on 15th June 1439. The
cross, then, dates from the early part of the fifteenth century.
Contiguous to the ancient house of the order within the city of
Hereford stands the Black Friars' Cross (Fig. 143), which apparently
dates from the reign of Richard II. It is hexagonal on plan, and is
mounted on steps. Its six arches were all open down to the bottom
in 1806, but were fenced in some time previously to 1875, after the
manner of those of the Iron Acton preaching cross. In the middle is
a hexagonal socket, its sides panelled with Gothic panel-work. From
the top of the socket rises a central shaft from which springs the
vaulting of the roof. The cornice is embattled, and from the midst
rose the stump of the shaft, now replaced by a modern shaft and cross.
The whole structure has, in fact, been completely renovated since 1875.
Besides those above named there is a small class of open crosses,
which, though not built for the purpose of preaching crosses, yet
resemble the latter more than any others, and must therefore, from
the point of view of design and construction, be grouped under the
same head. These, then, comprise the crosses of Bristol, Holbeach
(Lincolnshire), Leighton Buzzard (Bedfordshire), and lastly Winchester.
The High Cross at Bristol (Fig. 9) stood at the junction of four
main thoroughfares: Broad Street, Wine Street, Corn Street, and High
Street. The site had already been occupied by a cross, when a new
cross was erected in 1373. The cross of that date was constructed
of coarse-grained oolite, specially liable to absorb moisture; but
the original paint (blue and vermilion with gilding) effectually
preserved it from the weather for centuries. Above the arches of
the lowest stage was a stage comprising four niches, which were
eventually filled with statuary, standing figures, facing toward the
four cardinal points. A statue of King John faced northward, Henry
III. eastward, Edward III. westward, and Edward IV. southward. The
cross was taken down in 1633, to be erected on an enlarged scale, its
height, by the addition of an extra stage or storey, attaining to a
total of 39 ft. 6 in. The new storey contained four seated figures,
representing, respectively, King Henry VI. facing eastward, Queen
Elizabeth facing westward, King James I. southward, and Charles I.
northward. Above these, again, was a tier of armorial shields, with
pairs of _putti_ for supporters, obviously an addition of the same
period, viz., Charles I.'s reign. Then also was the cross embellished
with fresh painting and gilding, and encircled with an iron railing to
protect its lowest stage. The latter consisted of four open arches,
grouped about a central shaft. The cross was redecorated in 1697. It
was subsequently taken down in 1733. Its remains were then carted to
the Guild Hall, whence, after a short interval, they were taken and
set up in the College Green, to north of the cathedral. There it was
standing in 1737, when R. West made the drawing, which was engraved
and published in 1743. The cross in its new position was painted to
look like grey marble, with the ornaments gilt, and the figures tinted
in their natural colours. Not many years later, viz., in 1763, it was
again taken down, and its portions relegated to an obscure corner of
the cathedral. Finally, Dean Barton gave the remains to Sir Richard
Colt Hoare, of Stourton, who transported them, in August 1766, and set
up the cross once more, with a new base, summit, and central pier in
the gardens of Stourhead, Wiltshire.
The cross at Holbeach was pulled down in 1683, but Dr William
Stukeley made a drawing of it, dated 1722 (Fig. 10). The structure
thus depicted appears to have been pentagonal on plan, four steps
supporting the piers, which were buttressed with buttresses,
square on plan, panelled on their outward face, and surmounted by
pinnacles. The open arches were four-centred. The roof underneath was
vaulted with lierne and tierceron ribs, having carved bosses at the
intersections. Above the arches was a parapet or frieze, comprising
on each side a shield between two quatrefoils. Above, in the midst,
rose a huge crocketed pinnacle, forming the shaft for the cross which
originally crowned the summit.
The Market Cross at Leighton Buzzard (Figs. 146, 147), also, is
remarkable in being pentagonal on plan. Apart from the difficulty of
treating a five-sided structure satisfactorily, the design is faulty,
because the upper stage of the cross (admirable though it be, _per
se_, with its statuary, its flying buttresses, and its exquisite
cluster of pinnacles) altogether lacks coherent continuity with the
open stage beneath, the latter finishing abruptly with a pronounced
horizontal break, which divides the cross into two distinct parts,
upper and lower. The piers are buttressed and the arches four-centred.
Above the latter runs a frieze of masks, surmounted by crenellation.
The cross stands on a base of five steps, and is 27 ft. high. The
total height, including the weathercock, is 38 ft. The original
figures, representing the Blessed Virgin and Child, a Bishop, St John
Evangelist, Christ, and a King, were taken down in 1852 and replaced
by modern replicas. Fortunately, the old figures were preserved for
the embellishment of the Town Hall, and when the architect, G. F.
Bodley, repaired the cross in 1900, he restored them to their proper
position. The modern copies were, at the same time, set up against the
outside walls of the Town Hall, where they still remain. Mr Bodley
assigned the cross to the late-fourteenth or early-fifteenth century.
If this be somewhat too early, the cross can hardly be of later date
than the middle of the fifteenth century.
The Butter Cross, at Winchester (Fig. 145), stands on the pavement
alongside the High Street, at the point whence a narrow lane leads
to the north-west angle of the cathedral churchyard. The cross is
remarkable for its lightness and the gracefulness of its proportions.
It is mounted on five octagonal steps; it is square on plan, and is
enhanced by pinnacles and two tiers of flying buttresses. The open
arches of the lowest stage are four-centred, and surround a central
shaft. The next stage above forms an open tabernacle for statues, of
which, however, by 1741, only one original figure, 5 ft. 10 in. high,
survived. The cross measures between 45 and 50 ft. in height; and
dates, apparently, from the second half of the fifteenth century, but
has been sadly over-restored.
VI. MARKET CROSSES
"The general intent of market crosses," as defined by Bishop Milner,
was twofold, viz., religious and ethical--first, "to incite public
homage to the religion of Christ crucified," and secondly, "to
inspire men with a sense of morality and piety amidst the ordinary
transactions of life." This being so, "every town had its cross, at
which engagements, whether of a religious or worldly interest, were
entered into," says another writer, Brady. It would seem that, at
first, there was no difference of form between the market or village
cross and the normal churchyard cross of shaft-on-steps type. But
as the need developed of providing for the greater comfort and
convenience of folk gathered round the cross for market business, the
demand was met by erecting a penthouse roof about the lower part of
the already existing cross. Such a transformation is known to have
taken place at Norwich, and obviously also must have been effected at
Castle Combe in Wiltshire, Bingley in Yorkshire, and at Axbridge and
Cheddar in Somersetshire. This method of adaptation, however, cannot
have proved entirely satisfactory, because the platform or steps of
the shaft in such cases occupied too much of the space beneath the
shelter. And so the distinctive form of market cross was evolved at
length, planned from the outset as a cross and roof combined in one
coherent structure, the base of the central shaft being surrounded
by a footing of only a single step, a convenient bench to sit upon,
instead of the old-fashioned high flight of graduated steps. Such a
typical market cross might be built either of stone or of timber work,
its essential feature always being the covered in space for shelter
from the weather.
[Illustration: 148. AXBRIDGE, SOMERSETSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
In Wells, at the junction of Sadler Street with the High Street, stood
a cross, which must have been the most beautiful of all structures
of its kind. As represented in the prospect of the city, drawn by
William Simes, in 1735 (Fig. 149), it was a Gothic work of singular
richness and elegance. Its bottom storey consisted of two-centred
arches between buttressed piers surmounted by pinnacles, with a
parapet of open tracery. The upper portion consisted of a lantern
of two diminishing stages, with late-Gothic traceried windows and
parapets, with pinnacles at the angles, the lower one of the two
stages connected with the ground storey by flying buttresses. The
whole was crowned by a most gracefully tapered spire, terminating in
a weathercock. This exquisite monument was swept away by order of
the Corporation, December 1785, on the ground that part of the cross
having "lately fallen down, and the remainder being in a ruinous state
and dangerous," the entire cross must be demolished, and its materials
carried elsewhere to some convenient place. This cross obviously dated
from the middle of the fifteenth century or even earlier, and was,
doubtless, the same cross, referred to by Bishop Beckington (1443-64),
in his charter providing for the conveyance of water by conduit
"to the high cross in the market place." Nevertheless, it has been
identified by at least two writers, Charles Pooley and Alex. Gordon,
with a cross which the antiquary Leland relates that he saw in process
of construction. Leland describes this cross as having two concentric
rings, an outer ring or "circumference" of seven pillars, and an inner
"circumference" of six pillars, with a vaulted ceiling under the
_Domus Civica_. This particular building was completed in 1542. It was
erected by Bishop William Knight, with the help of a bequest from Dean
Richard Woolman. But the cross of Simes' map must have been, at least,
a century earlier in date than the cross of 1542, the account of which
tallies neither in architectural style nor in shape with the other.
In the one illustrated, there is no sign of two concentric arcades,
while the lantern storey is far too small ever to have served for the
headquarters of the municipal body. The discrepancies, in short, are
such that one is driven to the conclusion that there must have been,
at one and the same time, two separate crosses at Wells. It should
be added that the tolls of the market cross, which he built, were
given, by Bishop Knight's will, "for the use of the choristers of the
Cathedral Church for ever."
[Illustration: 149. WELLS, SOMERSETSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 150. NORTHAMPTON
MARKET CROSS]
The Market Cross of Axbridge, Somersetshire (Fig. 148), illustrated,
after a painting of the year 1756, in a communication from George
Bennett to the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1805, was demolished in or
about 1770. The structure appears to have been hexagonal on plan.
Its piers were buttressed, its arches four-centred. The surrounding
parapet was of pierced Gothic tracery, interrupted by a pinnacle over
each of the piers. The roof was conical, with a lofty vane. The height
to which the steps within, beneath the central shaft, rose, suggests
that this was an instance where the cross must have been in existence
first, and the shelter a subsequent addition.
[Illustration: 151. SHEPTON MALLET, SOMERSETSHIRE
INSCRIPTION ON MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 152. SHEPTON MALLET, SOMERSETSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 153. NORWICH
MARKET CROSS, WITH PLAN AND DETAIL]
[Illustration: 154. LICHFIELD
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 155. TAUNTON, SOMERSETSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
At Shepton Mallet a market cross (Fig. 152) was erected in 1500 by
private benefaction, as recorded on the original engraved brass, or
latten plate, attached to the structure. The text of the inscription
(see Fig. 151) (in modernised spelling) is as follows: "Of your
charity pray for the souls of Walter Buckland, and Agnes his wife,
with whose goods this cross was made in the year of our Lord God,
1500, whose obit shall be kept for ever in this parish church of
Shepton Mallet, the 28th day of November, whose souls Jesu pardon."
"There are certain lands, apparently a part of the Bucklands' bequest,
the revenues of which are devoted to keeping the cross in repair,
any surplus being distributed among the poor. This 'Cross Charity,'"
as it is called, "was formerly administered by trustees, but has
recently"--the passage was written in 1907--"been transferred to the
Urban Council. The title-deeds have long been lost; and some years ago
the Charity Commissioners were inclined to" alienate "the property
from the cross." The trustees, however, tenaciously fulfilled their
obligations, "and from 1841 onwards, if not before, kept the cross
in thorough repair." (Dr F. J. Allen.) The character of the cross
has been so much changed from time to time by reconstruction and
misrestoration, that it has now become impossible to determine what
the ancient design really was; but it seems to have consisted of a
shelter very like that formerly at Axbridge, with a central spire like
that formerly at Taunton (Fig. 155). From the presence of pinnacles
at the angles there can be deduced but one logical conclusion, viz.,
that the piers must have been, and should yet be, buttressed. The
buttresses, however, have completely disappeared. The frequent traffic
of heavy vehicles--for the market was once much busier than it has
become since the introduction of the railway--would probably have
damaged the projecting buttresses; and their omission, therefore,
curtailing the extent of the area occupied by the cross, may have
been designed to lessen the liability of the latter to collisions
with market carts. It is supposed that the top of the central
spire fell in the eighteenth century, damaging the substructure.
Anyhow, at some time in the seventeenth, or in the early part of the
eighteenth century, the hexagonal shelter was taken down from around
the central pier (which still remains intact), and was then rebuilt
in its present form, portions only of the old Gothic parapet, and
the pinnacles, being re-used. This rebuilding has escaped record,
but that it did take place the internal evidence of the structure
itself makes sufficiently obvious. The absence, already mentioned,
of buttresses; the clumsy, square blocks which do duty for the bases
of the piers; the classic imposts of the latter, and the depressed
arches (unconstructional, because they are not turned with voussoirs,
but formed each of one huge pair of stones, cambered to simulate an
arch in outline), and the exaggeratedly prominent keystones, could
never have been perpetrated at the early date of 1500, but at some
subsequent rebuilding, of which the sum of them affords cumulative and
convincing proof. Charles Pooley (_Old Stone Crosses of Somerset_,
1877) states that the cross was rebuilt from the ground in 1841: but
he was clearly mistaken. Dr F. J. Allen, of Cambridge, is positive on
this point. His grandfather, as one of the trustees of the Shepton
Mallet cross, was largely responsible for the rebuilding in question;
and his own mother and uncle, living as children in their father's
house, facing the cross, were eye-witnesses of the progress of the
work, and could distinctly remember that only the spire above the
roof was reconstructed. Minor repairs may have been done at the same
time to the rest of the building, but it was certainly not taken down
bodily. The architect employed was G. B. Manners, of Bath; and it is
claimed that his design for the modern spire is a careful reproduction
of the original one. To what extent this is the case may perhaps be
judged by comparing the spire actually standing with an illustration,
which appeared in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1781, from a drawing
made in 1747. The latter may be faulty, but, such as it is, its value
as a record can scarcely be overrated, since it furnishes the earliest
extant version of Shepton Mallet cross. The accompanying letterpress
says: "On the top of the cross, on the east side, are figures in
niches, and, above all, a modern weathercock." The engraving, it
is true, shows figures on more sides of the head than one; but the
discrepancy need not be material, if one may conjecture that all
the figures, other than those on the east side, had perished in the
interval between 1747 and 1781. In any event the massive, carved stone
cylinder, depicted as capping the spire in 1747, cannot have been the
original cross-head of 1500, which, according to Pooley, was "a heavy,
lantern-shaped stone, bearing figures of our Saviour on the cross
between two malefactors, besides the images of several saints." This
cross-head was probably removed at the time of the rebuilding of
the shelter; and the cross-head which succeeded it is most likely the
same one which fell, as already mentioned, in the eighteenth century.
Pooley concludes his notice of Shepton Mallet cross thus: "Some of
the fragments of the old cross I saw lying in a builder's yard at
Darshill," a hamlet in Shepton Mallet parish. "A grandson of that
builder," writes Dr F. J. Allen, in September 1919, "now living at
Shepton, states that he can well remember his grandfather selling a
selection of those fragments to Lord Portman, who removed them to his
house at Blandford."
[Illustration: 156, 157. MALMESBURY, WILTSHIRE
MARKET CROSS, WITH SECTION]
[Illustration: 158. MALMESBURY
PLAN OF MARKET CROSS]
At Malmesbury, Wiltshire, there stands, some 200 ft. directly south
of the south end of the old transept of the Abbey Church, and about
50 ft. east of the south-east angle of St Paul's Parish Church, a
handsome market cross (Figs. 156, 157, 158) of the same type as those
of Cheddar, Chichester, and Salisbury. The following is Leland's
account of the cross: "There is a right fair and costly piece of
work in the market place, made all of stone, and curiously vaulted,
for poor market folks to stand dry when rain cometh. There be eight
great pillars, and eight open arches, and the work is eight square
(octagonal). One great pillar in the middle beareth up the vault. The
men of the town made this piece of work _in hominum memoria_ (within
living memory)." Leland wrote between about 1535 and 1545; and the
date assigned to the cross is 1490. With regard to the open arches it
would be more accurate to state that two only of the number are open
to the ground. The six others are confined at the bottom by a low
fence-wall. "A deeply moulded flying buttress rises from each pier,
clear of the richly-groined roof, the light ribs being drawn into
a cluster by a wide string-band supporting a large pinnacle and ogee
finial. This pinnacle bears traces of sculptured figures, and, on the
west face, of a crucifix; but the faces of the work are much abraded
by the weather, and perhaps rough treatment, for most of the bosses
have been broken from the groined vault."
[Illustration: 159. SALISBURY
POULTRY, OR MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 160. SALISBURY
POULTRY CROSS, AS RESTORED]
[Illustration: 161, 162. CHICHESTER
MARKET CROSS, WITH SECTION]
[Illustration: 163. CHICHESTER
PLAN OF MARKET CROSS]
The Market Cross at Chichester (Figs. 11, 161-163) was built shortly
before 1500 by Bishop Edward Storey, who endowed it with an estate at
Amberley, Sussex, producing a yearly rental of £25, that the means
for keeping the cross in constant repair might be assured. It is
octagonal on plan, its eight arches all open to the ground. This is
much the most elaborately ornamented of the crosses of its class. The
flying buttresses (unlike those of Malmesbury cross) are crocketed
at intervals all the way along their ogee course; and the side walls
above the arches are richly panelled. Splendid though Chichester
cross is still, it has been shamefully disfigured by incongruous
innovations intruding upon the original design. It was probably at
the "restoration," under Charles II., that the bust of Charles I. was
set up in an oval recess, inserted in the place of one of the niches
of the parapet. The clock above was fixed in 1724. Again the cross
suffered excessive repair, and further alterations in 1746.
In the case of the market crosses of Chichester and Malmesbury the
ring of pinnacles and the flying buttresses, converging upon the
central shaft, itself culminating in a sculptured lantern, resemble
in general effect the crown steeples of King's College, Aberdeen,
and of the collegiate church of St Giles at Edinburgh. But there is
a difference. In the Scottish instances the lantern is structurally
upheld by the combined thrust of the flying buttresses, without
vertical support. In the English market crosses, on the contrary, the
shaft, rising from the floor and passing right up through the roof,
sustains the lantern from directly underneath.
Salisbury Poultry Cross (Figs. 159, 160) must originally have been
constructed in the same way, but, some time before May 1789 (see
illustration in _Archæologia_, Vol. IX., p. 373) the whole of the
original superstructure above the roof had perished. The pinnacles,
flying buttresses, and lantern, which now crown the roof, are only
a modern restoration, albeit a very excellent one. The plan of the
Poultry Cross is hexagonal. In addition to this cross there are known
to have existed at one time in Salisbury the Cheese Cross, Bernard's
Cross, and that before the west door of the cathedral. One of the
number was erected by Lawrence de St Martino, as a penance enjoined
before September 1388, by Bishop Radulph Ergham because Lawrence, who
was infected with Lollardism, had been guilty of flagrant irreverence
toward the Blessed Sacrament. To complete his penance he was required
to come and kneel in the open air, barefoot and bareheaded, before
the said cross every Saturday for the rest of his life. A record of
his offence and of its punishment was to be inscribed upon the cross
itself, and, assuming this penance cross to be the actually existing
market cross, it has been conjectured that the six panelled sides of
its central pillar bore the required text. But the identity is very
doubtful, more especially as 1388 seems too early a date, by some
hundred years, for the Poultry Cross.
The old Market Cross at Glastonbury (Fig. 164) has unfortunately
disappeared. The shelter was octagonal and gabled. But the singular
feature of the design was that the gables, instead of surmounting
the arched openings, were placed over the spandrels and the piers
between the arches. Conformably, then, with the canted plan of the
structure, the face of each gable was returned at an angle from its
central vertical line, a simple but quite unusual device, which
produced a remarkably quaint and original effect. The picturesqueness
was enhanced by the presence hard by of a water conduit, which grouped
charmingly with the more imposing structure of the market cross. Both,
however, becoming dilapidated through neglect, were demolished in 1808.
At Norwich (Fig. 153) the first market cross was erected in the
time of Edward III. (1327-37). It is known to have been repaired in
the reign of Henry IV. (1399-1413). The structure must have been
of considerable size, since it contained a chapel and four shops.
Becoming decayed, it was pulled down in 1501, and rebuilt, the new
cross being finished in 1503. Like its predecessor, it contained an
oratory or chapel. It was octagonal, raised on steps, and appears to
have been originally an instance, on a large scale, of a spire-shaped
cross with an entrance on the west side between two vices leading to
the upper storeys. In the seventeenth century, apparently, the cross
was surrounded by sixteen pillars, _i.e._, eight large and eight
intermediate pillars of slenderer size, to support a flat leaded
roof for the shelter of the market people--an addition which totally
altered the aspect of the original spire-shaped cross. Meanwhile, in
the first year of Edward VI., the crucifixes which had adorned the
cross were taken down by order of the King's visitors. The standard
weights and measures of the city used to be kept in the market cross.
The oratory in it was let in 1574 to the company of workers in
leather. In 1646 the cross was repaired by means of a graduated tax,
levied on all the citizens in proportion to their means. In 1646,
also, the floor of the cross was paved. In 1664 it was appointed for
the Court of Guard, and in 1672 was "beautified and adorned" according
to the fashion of the day. Just sixty years afterwards the cross
was again alleged to be in decay, its materials were sold and the
whole cross swept away, the demolition beginning in August 1732.
[Illustration: 164. GLASTONBURY, SOMERSETSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 165. CHEDDAR, SOMERSETSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 166. SOMERTON, SOMERSETSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 167. MAIDSTONE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 168. OUNDLE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
At Lichfield (Fig. 154), the Market Cross, octagonal on plan, with
two-centred open arches, and with figures by way of pinnacles at
the angles of the parapet, was erected at the cost of Dean Denton
(1521-32).
At Northampton, the Market Cross (Fig. 150) was erected in 1535.
It stood upon an octagonal platform of stone, 2 ft. in height,
and comprised eight wooden columns, the entire surface of their
cylindrical shafts carved, supporting the pointed arches of the
octagonal shelter. "And the timbers from one pillar to the next
pillar were arched and carved. In the middle (of the platform) were
three steps or rounds of stone to sit upon," as well as for means of
approach on one side to the doorway which, "locked from market to
market," gave access to the stairway curtained within the cylindrical
shaft of stone rising in the centre. This shaft terminated above the
roof in a lantern with glazed windows, within which were deposited
the standard weights and measures, and other utensils connected with
the market. There was ample room to walk round upon the lead-covered
roof between the lantern and the embattled parapet. The latter was
ornamented at every angle of the octagon with a standard, or post,
surmounted by a little ape holding a rod with a vane attached. "The
whole was set out and beautified with branches of lead, and, upon all
squares (faces) little panels of lead like coats of arms gilt, and a
great ornament to the place." The cross, unfortunately, perished in
the general conflagration at Northampton, on 20th September 1675.
[Illustration: 169. IPSWICH
MARKET CROSS]
The old Market Cross at Taunton, Somersetshire, apparently dated from
about the middle of the sixteenth century. It was hexagonal on plan,
with pointed arches springing from columns, presumably cylindrical,
with polygonal bases. Above the arches was a penthouse roof of
boarding, designed, no doubt, to augment the area of the shelter
beneath. The top of the walls was crenellated, with pinnacles at the
angles. The central shaft rose into two diminishing tiers of niches
for statues. The original top having vanished, its place was taken
by a square block with sundials on the faces, with an ogee roof
surmounted by a weathercock. The cross was demolished in 1769, but
its general appearance is perpetuated by a very rough drawing in the
British Museum (Fig. 155).
[Illustration: 170, 171, 172. IPSWICH, SUFFOLK
MARKET CROSS, WITH DETAILS OF WOOD CARVING]
[Illustration: 173. CASTLE COMBE, WILTSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 174, 175, 176. CASTLE COMBE, WILTSHIRE
MARKET CROSS, WITH PLAN, SECTION, AND DETAILS]
The Market Cross at Cheddar, Somersetshire (Fig. 165), is a stone
structure of six four-centred open arches and shelter, evidently built
up round an older cross of the shaft-on-steps type. The shaft, which
dates from the fifteenth century, is octagonal, and, with its knop,
rears through the top of the roof. The piers of the surrounding arches
are buttressed and the parapet is embattled. Extensive renewing took
place in 1834, and the steps were repaired in 1835.
The Market Cross at Somerton, Somersetshire (Fig. 166), which may
be compared with that of Cheddar, was built in 1673, a surprisingly
late date in view of the character of the cross itself. The latter
is octagonal, with pyramidal roof of eight cants; its piers are
buttressed, and, above a stringcourse with gargoyles at the outer
angles, rises an embattled parapet. So closely, indeed, are the
forms of architectural tradition adhered to, that, but for the
segmental arches with their heavy keystones, one would have had little
hesitation in assigning the cross to the first half of the sixteenth
century.
At Maidstone (Fig. 167), the Market Cross, or as it was formerly
called, from its original purpose, the Corn Cross, stood at the
top of High Street in the centre of the roadway. The date of its
erection is unknown, but it is thought to have been about the middle
of the sixteenth century, at the time of the incorporation of the
borough by Edward VI. A sketch, ascribed to Cornelius Jansen, drawn
upon ass's skin and dated 1623--the property, through the Bosville
family, of J. H. Baverstock--shows the cross to have been an octagonal
structure with an umbrella-like roof, covered apparently with slates,
and surmounted by a leaden cross. Later drawings and paintings show
that the arches were four-centred, and supported on clustered wooden
shafts, and that, in place of the cross on the top, there had been
substituted a lead-covered dome, or cupola, from the summit of
which rose a pole of turned wood. In the spandrels of the arches
were curious carvings illustrative of a butcher's calling. About
1608 it was converted into the butcher's market. The cross, says
William Newton in his _Antiquities of Maidstone_, 1741, "appears to
have been very large; but only a part of it is now remaining, which
is handsomely covered with lead, and used for the fish market." In
1771 it was considered to be an obstruction to the traffic, and was
accordingly moved on rollers a slight distance to the side of the
street, just below the square stone conduit shown in the illustration;
but it did not stand there very long, for it was finally demolished in
1780.
[Illustration: 177. DUNSTER, SOMERSETSHIRE
YARN-MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 178, 179. OAKHAM, RUTLAND
BUTTER CROSS, WITH DETAIL OF THE INTERIOR]
[Illustration: 180, 181. WYMONDHAM, NORFOLK
MARKET CROSS, WITH DETAIL OF THE GROUND-FLOOR STOREY]
[Illustration: 182. BINGLEY, W.R. YORKSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 183. LYMM, CHESHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 184. NETHER STOWEY, SOMERSETSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 185. MILVERTON, SOMERSETSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 186. NOTTINGHAM
THE MALT CROSS]
At Leicester, the last remains of the ancient cross were cleared away
in 1569. Meanwhile, a successor to it had been built in 1557. This new
Market Cross (Fig. 12) was octagonal on plan, having open arches on
pillars and a cupola roof. In its turn it was demolished between 1769
and 1773.
At Ipswich, a preaching cross, erected in 1510 by Edmund Daundy,
Bailiff of the town, and said to be a near relative of Cardinal
Wolsey, is believed to have occupied the same spot on the Cornhill,
where subsequently, in 1628, the market cross was built (Figs.
169-172). The latter was projected, at least, as early as 1610, when
Benjamin Osborne promised £50, which, by will dated June 1619, he
bequeathed toward the building. But it was not until 1628 that the
Corporation managed to obtain any payment from his executors, and
then the sum available from his estate was £6 short of the proper
amount. The figures in the inscription, recording the benefaction
upon a shield in one of the spandrels, were thereupon altered from
£50 to £44 (Fig. 172). The structure, 28 ft. in diameter, comprised
eight stone columns, supporting elliptical arches of wood, with an
embattled parapet above a cornice, elaborately carved with scrollwork
and grotesques. Five masks from the old wood carving, together with
the shield inscribed as above mentioned, are yet preserved in the
Ipswich Museum. The roof, an ogee-shaped cupola, covered with lead,
was framed into a centre post, carried on cross-beams just above the
level of the eaves. The upper end of the post ran up through the
middle of the roof in the form of a square terminal of four stages,
the lowest part being carved with a group of figures supporting a
gilt ball, like an orb, with a cross on the top. On the occasion of
the Proclamation of King Charles II., on 10th May 1660, "the cross was
ordered to be beautified--painted or rather emblazoned" with the arms
of local celebrities. The arms included those of Ipswich borough and
of the families of Daundy, Bloss, Long, and Sparrowe, as well as two
tradesmen's marks, C. A., and B. K. M. The carved faces in the museum
yet retain their flesh tints. In April 1694 the Corporation ordered
that a new statue of Justice should be erected upon the summit of
the cross. In 1723 the Corporation voted thanks to Mr Francis Nugent
(who represented Ipswich in three Parliaments) for his present of a
statue of Justice, which was brought from his seat at Dallinghoe.
This, an allegorical figure, holding the scales, is of stone, painted
brown, and also is preserved in Ipswich Museum. A sketch and plan by
Sir James Thornhill (Fig. 169), in May 1711, shows that the cross at
that time stood surrounded by a balustrade. The cross was pulled down
bodily at the beginning of January 1812, by order of a Great Court
previously held. An aquatint, from a contemporary drawing by George
Frost, was published in the same year (Fig. 171).
The Market Cross at Mildenhall, Suffolk (Fig. 13), with its timber
posts and lead-covered roof, dates from the fifteenth century.
[Illustration: 187. BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 188. SWAFFHAM, NORFOLK
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 189. WOODSTOCK, OXFORDSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
[Illustration: 190. WAKEFIELD, W.R. YORKSHIRE
MARKET CROSS]
The old Butter Cross at Oakham (Fig. 178) recalls that at Mildenhall,
than which, however, it is probably later by a century or more. The
Oakham cross is octagonal on plan, the eight oak posts which support
the roof resting on blocks of stone for bases. In the centre is
a solid stone pier, encircled by seats for the market women. The
interior construction of the roof is a fine example of carpentry (Fig.
179).
At Oundle, Northamptonshire, stood a market cross, very like the
last-named, octagonal on plan, with an eight-sided pyramidal roof,
covered with Colly Weston slates, and supported by eight wooden posts
(Fig. 168). The interior comprised a central shaft, with a square
socket, bearing the date 1591, and mounted on two octagonal steps
of stone, having overhanging drips. The cross, not mentioned by
Bridges, has long since been demolished. The view is from an undated
lithograph, initialled J. S.
The Market Cross at Wymondham, Norfolk (Figs. 180, 181), with its
quaint timber-framed upper storey, approached by an external stair,
dates from 1617. The face of the braces between the piers of the open
ground-storey are carved with tops, spindles, spoons, and such like
wooden ware, for the abundant manufacture of which the town had long
been famous.
At Dunster, Somersetshire, the Yarn-Market Cross, as it is called, is
octagonal on plan, with an immense span of roof relieved by dormers
(Fig. 177). "The arrangement of the timbers, extending radially from
the centre of the cross, is somewhat remarkable," writes Alex. Gordon.
This cross was built about the year 1600. The weather-vane at the
summit of the lantern bears the date 1647.
The Market Cross, or Butter Cross, at Witney, Oxfordshire (Fig. 14),
was built, according to Joseph Skelton, by William Blake, of Coggs,
in 1683. Lavish renovation has now robbed it of much of its proper
charm, but the planning of the roof, with its gables facing four ways,
constitutes an entirely delightful composition.
At Milverton, Somersetshire, the Market Cross, commonly called Fair
Cross, was standing, and is referred to in an indenture dated March
1715 (Fig. 185). The vane bore the date 1706. Eight cylindrical
columns of stone, surrounding the base and shaft of a medieval cross,
sustained the shelter, above which was an upper chamber, used for
storage only, access thereto being obtained by means of a ladder
through the window opening in one of the sides. The chamber was
covered with a slate-healed pyramid of eight cants. The cross, which,
strangely enough, was in private ownership, was demolished by the
proprietor himself in or about 1850.
The Market Cross at Nether Stowey, Somersetshire, was erected about
1750 on the site of an earlier cross, of which nothing but a few
fragments of stone from the base had survived. The eighteenth-century
structure was octagonal on plan, eight cylindrical columns supporting
the eight-canted pyramidal roof, from the top of which rose a square
turret, with a clock in the lower part, and a bell in the open
bell-cote at the top (Fig. 184). Having been allowed to fall into
dilapidation, the whole cross was swept away by the lord of the manor
about 1860.
At Castle Combe, Wiltshire, the Market Cross is apparently another
instance where the shelter was built up over an already existing
stone cross (Figs. 173, 176). The latter has a bold, square socket,
sculptured with late-Gothic tracery ornament. The shelter seems to be
sixteenth-century work. Its pyramidal roof, supported on four stone
piers, had lost the original summit of the cross-shaft before Buckler
made his drawing of the north-west view of the cross. It was then
surmounted by a sundial of the seventeenth or eighteenth century.
Later restoration, however, has substituted a quasi-Gothic pinnacle.
At Lymm, Cheshire, though no market is now held there, the old Market
Cross remains, a quaint and unusual structure, standing on the top
of a boulder, with steps partly hewn out of the natural rock (Fig.
183). The cross is built of stone, and consists of a massive central
pier, square on plan, between four smaller piers, likewise square,
supporting the roof at the corners. The roof, cross-ridged, has
pediments facing four ways, and surmounted each by a substantial
hip-knob. On the faces of the pediments are sundials. From the centre
of the roof rises a lofty weathercock with a wrought-iron frame.
The Malt Cross at Nottingham stood opposite the lower end of Sheep
Lane, and is said to have been erected in 1714, although the old
vane at the summit bore the date 1686. The structure, hexagonal on
plan, and roofed with a cupola supported on Doric columns, was raised
upon a three-foot high platform of four steps (Fig. 186). The boss
surmounting the cupola had a sundial on each of its six sides. The
Malt Cross was taken down, and the materials were sold by public
auction in October 1804.
As the seventeenth century advanced the market cross exhibited more
and more marked divergence from the original architectural forms,
including the abandonment of the cross on the summit, and the
adoption, in many instances, of a sundial in place of the cross. This
tendency only increased in the eighteenth century. Instances of it
are afforded by the market crosses--rectangular on plan--at Woodstock
(Fig. 189) and Wakefield (Fig. 190). Other eighteenth-century market
crosses, _e.g._, those of Bungay (1789) (Fig. 187) and Swaffham (1783)
(Fig. 188), might almost be mistaken in appearance for bandstands,
but from the fact that, aloft upon their lead-covered domes, the
allegorical figure of Justice, emphasising the duty of fair dealing,
continues to proclaim their purpose of open-air shelters for the
transaction of business.
VII. UNCLASSIFIED VARIETIES
It is not easy to devise a system for the classification of crosses,
which shall, without loss of precision, be both exhaustive enough and
comprehensive enough to embrace every possible variety. There remain,
then, a few anomalous instances which seem not to admit of inclusion
in any of the categories already considered.
The first to note is Doncaster cross (Fig. 191), of which an engraving
was published in _Vetusta Monumenta_, July 1753, from an old painting,
formerly the property of Lord Fairfax, who sold it in 1672 to
Alderman Thoresby, of Leeds. An ancient manuscript, accompanying the
painting, recorded all that was known of the history of the cross.
The latter bore on the shaft, at about a third of its height up from
the bottom, an inscription in Norman French: "This is the cross of
Ote de Tilli, on whose soul God have mercy. Amen." The said Ote de
Tilli was seneschal of the Earl of Conisborough, and was a witness
of the charter of foundation of Kirkstall Abbey in 1152. His name
occurs in other charters of King Stephen's reign, and also of others
in the reigns of Henry II. and Richard I. The cross stood at the
south end of the town of Doncaster, on the London road. The shaft
was 18 ft. high, and consisted of a large central cylinder with four
engaged cylindrical shafts, having a total circumference of 11 ft.
7 in. It stood upon five circular steps, resting upon a hexagonal
base or plinth. On the summit of the stone cross there formerly rose
five slender iron crosses, the central one higher than the rest; but
in 1644 the monument was defaced by the troops under the Earl of
Manchester, losing its iron crosses. To make up the deficiency the
mayor, in 1678, erected four dials, a ball, and vane on the top of the
cross. Of not dissimilar plan is the stump of a shaft at Elstow (Fig.
192), in Bedfordshire. Again, there is a tall pillar of clustered
columns in three stages at Aldborough (Fig. 193). All three examples
appear to date from the thirteenth century.
[Illustration: 191. DONCASTER, W.R. YORKSHIRE]
[Illustration: 192. ELSTOW, BEDFORDSHIRE
CROSS NEAR THE CHURCH]
[Illustration: 193. ALDBOROUGH, E.R. YORKSHIRE
VILLAGE CROSS]
[Illustration: 194, 195. MITTON, W.R. YORKSHIRE
HEAD OF CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD, SHOWING OBVERSE AND REVERSE FACES]
At Chester, where Watergate Street ends and Eastgate Street begins,
and where, at the point of junction, Bridge Street leads off at a
right angle southward to the Dee Bridge, there stood the High Cross
on a hexagonal platform or step outside the entrance to the Pentice,
which itself extended the whole length of the south side of St
Peter's Church. The design of this cross was so abnormal that one
is at a loss to place it under any known classification. A plain
cylindrical column supported an immense and lofty superstructure,
exceeding the height of shaft and socket put together, and consisting
of a double-storeyed lantern, with two tiers of niches for statues
surrounding it. The whole was surmounted by an orb and cross, but the
drawing by Randle Holme the third, among the Harleian manuscripts at
the British Museum (Fig. 24), gives two alternative details to finish
off the summit, viz., a crucifix, or a crowned shield of the royal
arms. The High Cross was newly gilded in 1529. It was overthrown and
defaced by the Puritans in 1646, or, according to another account,
in 1648. "In 1804 the remains were discovered buried in the porch of
St Peter's Church, and were taken to Netherleigh House, and there
used to form a kind of ornamental rockwork in the gardens." The late
Archdeacon Barber, writing in 1910, says that in the Grosvenor Museum
at Chester there is a plain stone block, which, though without any
of the richly sculptured ornament depicted by Holme, purports to be
the head of the ancient cross, while "the shaft is said to be in the
grounds of Plas Newydd, at Llangollen."
[Illustration: 196. RIPLEY, W.R. YORKSHIRE
BASE IN THE CHURCHYARD]
There is, again, a certain type of cross which cannot exactly be
classified under any of the previously described varieties. The type
in question, as exemplified at Alphington (Fig. 199) and at St Loye's,
Wonford, near Exeter (Fig. 198), appears to be peculiar to Devonshire.
At first sight the cross looks much like a variety of monolith, but
the cross-head is in fact worked in a separate block of stone. The
shortness of the arms, as compared with the height of the upper limb,
is striking. Another feature is a small niche or hollow sunk in the
face of the cross at the point of intersection. For the rest, the
socket does not differ at all from many examples occurring in the
shaft-on-steps group.
The cross-head at Mitton, Yorkshire (Figs. 194, 195), is peculiar
inasmuch as the crucifixion is sculptured on both faces, but in
totally different fashions. That on the west face has the arms
stretched horizontally, within a sexfoil frame, and might well be
of the thirteenth century. Whereas the sculpture on the east face,
though much more weatherworn, is of a style that could not have been
designed before the late-fourteenth, or perhaps even the fifteenth
century. The arms of the Christ in this instance are drawn upwards
in an unusually oblique direction. It is impossible that these two
representations could have been executed at one and the same date. The
circular outline of the head, too, is peculiar, and suggestive rather
of a gable-cross than of a standing cross. Possibly the west face only
was sculptured in the first instance, for a gable-cross, the sculpture
on the east face being added later in order to adapt the stone for
the head of a churchyard cross. Anyhow, since Buckler's drawings were
made, the head has been mounted on a modern shaft and pedestal.
[Illustration: 197. BISLEY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
MONUMENT IN THE CHURCHYARD]
A very strange socket, comprising two stages, both cylindrical with a
slight batter, stands to the north of the church in the churchyard at
Ripley, Yorkshire (Fig. 196). The topmost stage is about 2 ft. 3½
in. high, and the diameter of its upper bed is 2 ft. 9 in. It has had
sunk into it, from the shaft of a cross, a mortise 8½ in. deep by
18 in. by 10 in. The bottom stage is 2 ft. high by about 4 ft. 8 in.,
the diameter of its upper bed, which varies from 6 to 7½ in. wider
all round than the foot of the upper stage. A most peculiar feature is
the series of eight cavities averaging 6 in. deep and from 14 to 17
in. high, by 7 to 10½ in. wide at the top. It cannot be that these
cavities were receptacles for offerings, for eight of them would be
largely in excess of any reasonable requirements of alms-gathering. It
has been called a "weeping cross" on the supposition that the hollows
were meant for penitents to kneel in. But this again cannot be, for
the spaces available are not nearly large enough for such a purpose.
It may be that the bottom stage of the Ripley cross is, after all,
nothing else than the inverted bowl of a font, and the hollows
surrounding it niches for statuary. The problem, however, is one which
has not hitherto been satisfactorily explained.
[Illustration: 198. ST LOYE'S, WONFORD,
DEVONSHIRE]
At Bisley, Gloucestershire, in the west end of the churchyard, stands
a singular structure of stone, of early-thirteenth-century work
(Fig. 197). Circular on plan at the foot and hexagonal above, it
now measures about 12 ft. high, the original cross or finial at the
apex having disappeared. This monument has been variously described
as a cross, a well-head, or a bone-house. Probably it is rather a
combination between a cross (for with such it must almost certainly
have been crowned) and a lantern for the "poor souls' light." The
trefoil-headed openings in each cant seem designed expressly for
emitting the light of a lamp burning within, while the dormer-like
hoods of the said openings would shelter the flame from wind and rain.
Such lantern pillars are known to have been in use in the Middle Ages,
though they have very rarely survived to our own times. There exists,
however, a fine example of late-fourteenth or early-fifteenth century
work, standing outside the north-east part of the Dom at Regensburg,
in Bavaria.
[Illustration: 199. ALPHINGTON, DEVONSHIRE]
VIII. LYCHGATES
Lychgates are so named from the old Anglo-Saxon word _lich_, or German
_leiche_, meaning corpse, because they stood at the entrance of the
churchyard, where the bearers of the dead might deposit their burden,
and rest awhile before passing through, and into the church for the
solemn funeral rites. Some lychgates are actually provided with a long
flat slab for this very purpose, as is the case, for instance, at
Ashprington and Atherington, both in Devonshire, and at Chiddingfold,
Surrey (Fig. 227). Usually also they are fitted with benches.
The rubric of the Prayer Book of 1549 directed that the officiating
minister at funerals should go to meet the corpse at the "church
style," _i.e._, lychgate; and again, according to the Prayer Book now
in use (of the year 1662), the clergyman and the clerks meeting the
corpse "at the entrance of the churchyard" (_i.e._, at the lychgate,
wherever one exists), there begin the burial service, and thence
precede the body into the church.
In some places, as at Heston and Hayes, in Middlesex, and at Chalfont
St Giles, the entrance gates form turnstiles, being fixed to a central
post, which revolves on a pivot.
There is hardly scope for any very great variety of types in
lychgates, but they may be classified generally under certain main
groups, viz., first, the porch-shape, in which the roof-ridge has the
same axis as the passage way; secondly, the shed-like form, in which
the roof-ridge runs transversely to the axial line of the passage way;
thirdly, a rare variety, embodying both the previous features, and
such that is exemplified by the charming lychgate at Clun, Shropshire
(Fig. 235), where two roof-ridges cross one another at right angles;
or at Berrynarbor, Devonshire, where the lychgate is on the plan of
a cross; and, lastly, lychgates formed by the combination of the
requisite passage way with a church house or other building. To this
class belongs the entrance to the churchyard at Penshurst, Kent,
an example well known and admired for its picturesqueness. Other
instances are those of Hartfield in Sussex (Fig. 201), Long Compton
in Warwickshire, Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire (Fig. 204), and
Bray in Berkshire (Figs. 202, 203). The last-named specimen is of
exceptional interest, not only because it contains an ancient chapel,
but also because it bears, on one of the uprights of the entrance,
the date of its construction, 1448, a most unusual circumstance.
The penthouse gallery, shown on the left of the photograph, is a
modern addition. It will also be noticed, on comparison of the two
illustrations, that the west window of the old chapel-chamber has,
since 1879, been robbed of some of its mullions, and now consists of
three lights only.
Two Welsh examples of lychgates, with a room built over each,
are enumerated by the Rev. Elias Owen, in 1886, viz., Derwen,
Denbighshire, where the upper storey is utilised for parochial
purposes, and Whitford, Flintshire, where it served as a schoolroom.
Latterly, "when the school increased in numbers, the lychgate was
blocked up and formed into a class-room" in addition to the upper
part. The same writer remarks that a fully equipped lychgate includes
seats, a lychcross and a lychstone. As a rule, both lychcrosses and
lychstones "have disappeared ... but underneath the roof of Caerwys
(Flintshire) lychgate are still to be seen the beam and socket, where
once stood the wooden lychcross, and on the ground are traceable the
foundation stones of the two lychseats, and of the lychstone in the
centre of the porch. This rest for the coffin was a low wall" of about
a coffin's length. Some of the distinctive features of lychgates were
destroyed in the eighteenth century. Thus "the beam that stretched
from wall to wall," and had a wooden cross inserted into it, "has,
in nearly every instance, been sawn away." The above-named example
at Caerwys, however, according to the _Inventory_ of the Royal
Commission, still survives. The place was visited in July 1910, and
the report runs: "Within the covered lychgate is a pre-Reformation oak
frame, the two uprights supporting a beam in which a cross was fixed,"
the ancient custom having been to set down corpses on their way to
burial upon the lychstone immediately beneath this cross.
The distribution of lychgates in various districts is most unequal.
Thus nearly every one of the twenty-four churches of the Deanery of
Woodleigh, Devonshire, is said to possess a lychgate. An instance,
which may safely be pronounced unique, is that of Troutbeck,
Westmorland, where there are, or were, no less than three stone
lychgates to one and the same churchyard.
[Illustration: 200. HAYES, MIDDLESEX
LYCHGATE]
Lychgates are constructed, it goes without saying, of the most
convenient native material available. Thus, the Welsh examples
illustrated are of indigenous stone; whereas in Middlesex,
Hertfordshire, Kent, and other districts in which freestone is not
available, the lack of it is amply compensated by the development of
the resources of timber. Kent, though deficient in churchyard crosses,
may justly claim to rival, if not indeed to surpass, the other
counties of England in respect of the admirable lychgates which it
contains. The handsomest stands at Beckenham (Figs. 205-207), on the
south side of the old churchyard. The gate is of the shed variety, but
the roof-ridge, instead of running the whole length from end to end
(as it does at Lenham in the same county (Figs. 220, 221, and 222), at
Ashwell, Hertfordshire (Figs. 215-218), Hayes (Fig. 200) and Heston
(Figs. 213 and 214) in Middlesex, Morwenstow in Cornwall (Fig. 219),
Isleham in Cambridgeshire (Figs. 223-225), and Goring in Oxfordshire
(Fig. 226)), is hipped, with very charming result. But hipping alone
is not enough to ensure full æsthetic effect. One has only to compare
two examples of hipped roofs, viz., that at Beckenham, already
named, and the not dissimilar instance at Staple (Figs. 208, 209),
in the same county, to realise what very different artistic values
two gates, based on one identical motif, may possess. The Beckenham
lychgate is far superior to the other, no doubt because of the
excellent proportions of its parts. The old drawing, by Buckler (Fig.
206), shows that at one time the large oblique struts were wanting;
a deficiency which altered the whole appearance of the lychgate,
tending, as it did, to make the roof look heavy and ill-balanced. The
large struts, however, had been supplied by 1871. The pronounced tilt
of the roof toward the eaves, by means of sprockets (see the section
drawings, Fig. 207), gives additional character to this beautiful
lychgate. At the present day it cannot, unfortunately, be seen to
proper advantage, because of the intrusive presence of a modern brick
wall, abutting close up against either end of the gate, and concealing
its lower part. The roof is now tiled, but it is believed that it was
originally thatched, or shingled. The difference of effect produced by
varying the number of bays is illustrated by comparing the lychgates
of West Wickham (Figs. 211, 212) and Beckenham, both of one bay
each; those of Isleham, Staple, Lenham, and Ashwell, all of two bays
each, and that of Anstey with its three bays. As to the last-named,
Buckler's amazingly incorrect draughtsmanship in the right hand lower
corner fortunately does not avail to disguise the sturdy dignity and
grand outline of this magnificent example.
At Ashwell, Hertfordshire, the timber lychgate, which forms the
south-west entrance to the churchyard, probably dates from the
fifteenth century. The three standards carrying the horizontal lintel
are so much more massive at the top than at the bottom that they must
certainly have been cut from tree trunks inverted, like the angle
spurs used in the construction of ancient timber-framed houses. The
windbrace in the roof, and the engrailed vergeboard under the end
gable should be noticed.
The lychgate which forms the western entrance to the churchyard at
Lenham, Kent, comprises two passage ways, each having a four-centred
arch of timber overhead. The narrower gate, that on the south, has
the head cambered out of a single piece of oak to the four-centred
outline. The northern, the wider gate, has the head built together of
two pieces, shaped to the requisite form. The supporting struts and
braces are much worn with age and weather, but happily unrestored. The
roof is tiled. The main part of the timberwork is of the fifteenth
century, says Mr E. C. Lee, except the roof, the rafters of which,
built into the adjoining house, are "very poor and rough.... The
strutting at A is bad in construction, all the strain being thrown
on the pins." There is a tradition that this gate was brought hither
from Canterbury some time about 1770; but it is, in all probability,
without historical basis, as also are many other traditions of a
similar kind.
The lychgate at Pulborough, Sussex (Fig. 236), is an example of
a pyramidal roof, and may be contrasted with the cross-ridged
construction of the lychgates at Clun in Shropshire (Fig. 235), or
Monnington-on-Wye in Herefordshire (Fig. 237). All three are square
on plan, and built of timber. The ornamental wood-patterning at Clun
is closely allied to the typical domestic work of Shropshire and
Cheshire, only in this instance it is open instead of being filled in
between with wattle and daub.
Some lychgates belonging to the shed type are of composite materials,
partly masonry and partly timberwork. To this class belong the gates
at Pattingham, Staffordshire (Fig. 234), with its timber-framed gables
in the long roof; Llanfillo, Brecknockshire (Fig. 229), and Clodock,
Herefordshire (Fig. 228). The last-named is of uncommon character,
having timber posts supplemented by masonry pier-walls, with recesses,
like niches, in their inner sides. The stone piers are each 8 ft. 8
in. long by 2 ft. thick, and the clear opening between them is 7 ft.
4 in. wide. The roofing is of stone slates. It is believed to have
been erected in 1667.
To judge of the respective effects produced by timberwork on the
one hand, and stonework on the other, one has only to compare the
porch-like lychgates of Rustington, Sussex (Fig. 230), and Boughton
Monchelsea, Kent (Fig. 231), with those of Talyllyn (Fig. 232) and
Llandrillo-yn-Rhos (Fig. 233). It happens that the date of the
construction of the last-named is known, viz., 1677. Otherwise, both
this one and Talyllyn are so rude in construction, and so conspicuous
for the absence of architectural detail, that it would be rash to
attempt to assign a more precise date to either of them than some
period subsequent to Queen Elizabeth's reign.
"It is difficult," says Herbert North in _The Old Churches of
Arllechwedd_, "to conjecture the date of the local lychgates." Of six
specimens, past and present, noted by him in Carnarvonshire, every
one bore, or bears, a date some time within the eighteenth century.
The lychgate of Llanrug is dated 1718; Caerhun and Llanfaglan, 1728;
the old gate, now demolished, at Dolwyddelan, was dated 1736; the
gate at Bettws-y-Coed is dated 1756, and Llanrhychwyn, 1762. In one
case only, that of Dolwyddelan, the parish accounts show clearly
that the work executed in the year specified was of the nature of
repairs to an already existing structure. With regard to the other
lychgates, however, there is no way of determining whether they were
repaired merely, or built afresh at the dates recorded on them. With
one exception, the lychgate of Bettws-y-Coed, where there is on the
east side, over the gateway, a fine curved beam, 10 in. square, of
really medieval aspect, internal evidence is of little avail, because
the structures themselves are of quite plain and simple character,
devoid of any distinctive architectural feature whatever. It is,
however, a very extraordinary coincidence if occasion arose for all
the six lychgates to require repairing within a space of less than
fifty years. One can scarcely be rash, then, in assuming that, in the
majority of instances, these lychgates were built at the actual dates
respectively inscribed upon them.
[Illustration: 201. HARTFIELD, SUSSEX
LYCHGATE BUILDING]
[Illustration: 202. BRAY, BERKSHIRE]
[Illustration: 203. BRAY, BERKSHIRE
LYCHGATE, FROM THE CHURCHYARD]
[Illustration: 204. CHALFONT ST GILES, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 205. BECKENHAM, KENT
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 206, 207. BECKENHAM, KENT
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 208, 209. STAPLE, KENT
PLAN AND SECTIONS OF LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 210. ANSTEY, HERTFORDSHIRE
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 211, 212. WEST WICKHAM, KENT
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 213, 214. HESTON, MIDDLESEX
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 215, 216. ASHWELL, HERTFORDSHIRE
LYCHGATE, ELEVATION AND SECTION, SHOWING ROOF CONSTRUCTION]
[Illustration: 217, 218. ASHWELL, HERTFORDSHIRE
LYCHGATE, PLAN AND END ELEVATION]
[Illustration: 219. MORWENSTOW, CORNWALL
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 220. LENHAM, KENT
LYCHGATE, FROM WITHIN THE CHURCHYARD]
[Illustration: 221. LENHAM, KENT
LYCHGATE DETAILS]
[Illustration: 222. LENHAM, KENT
LYCHGATE, SECTIONS AND GROUND PLAN]
[Illustration: 223. ISLEHAM, CAMBRIDGESHIRE
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 224, 225. ISLEHAM, CAMBRIDGESHIRE
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 226. GORING, OXFORDSHIRE
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 227. CHIDDINGFOLD, SURREY
LYCHGATE, WITH COFFIN SLAB]
[Illustration: 228. CLODOCK, HEREFORDSHIRE
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 229. LLANFILLO, BRECKNOCKSHIRE
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 230. RUSTINGTON, SUSSEX
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 231. BOUGHTON MONCHELSEA, KENT
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 232. TALYLLYN, MERIONETHSHIRE]
[Illustration: 233. LLANDRILLO-YN-RHOS, DENBIGHSHIRE]
[Illustration: 234. PATTINGHAM, STAFFORDSHIRE
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 235. CLUN, SHROPSHIRE
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 236. PULBOROUGH, SUSSEX
LYCHGATE]
[Illustration: 237. MONNINGTON-ON-WYE, HEREFORDSHIRE
LYCHGATE]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
_Vetusta Monumenta_, Vol. I., 1747; Vol. II., 1789; and Vol.
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These miscellanies contain a number of plates, dating from 1728,
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"An Essay towards a History and Description of Ancient Stone
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Illustrations. London, 1906.
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POOLEY, F.S.A., London, 1868.
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1905.
"The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire," by HENRY TAYLOR,
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Ancient Crosses and Holy Wells of Lancashire." Manchester, 1906.
"The Crosses of Lancashire," by the Rev. P. H.
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Vol. II. London, 1909.
_Manx Crosses_, by P. M. C. KERMODE. London, 1907.
"Parish of Kirk Maughold," comprises an illustrated account of
the Standing Cross in _The Manx Archæological Survey_, Fourth
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_St Paul's Cross: the most Famous Spot in London_, by JOHN
B. MARSH, 1892.
_Chapters in the History of Old St Paul's_, by W. SPARROW
SIMPSON, London, 1881; and _St Paul's Cathedral and Old
City Life_, by the same, London, 1894,
contain much information concerning Paul's Cross.
"Paul's Cross," being Chapter VIII. of Methuen's _Little Guide
to St Paul's Cathedral, London_, by GEORGE CLINCH, 1906.
"The Early History, Form, and Function of Paul's Cross," by
W. PALEY BAILDON, F.S.A., in _Proceedings of the
Society of Antiquaries_, 2nd May, 1918.
"Early Christian Sculpture in Northamptonshire," by J.
ROMILLY ALLEN, F.S.A.(Scot.), in _The Associated
Architectural Societies' Reports and Papers_.
_The Stone Crosses of the County of Northampton_, by
CHRISTOPHER A. MARKHAM, F.S.A. London and Northampton,
1901.
"The Missing Termination of Queen Eleanor's Cross at
Northampton," by R. C. SCRIVEN, in _The Associated
Architectural Societies' Reports and Papers_. Vol. XVIII.
Lincoln, 1886.
"Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England, and the Monuments Erected
to her Memory," by JAMES GALLOWAY, A.M., M.D., in
_Historical Sketches of Old Charing_. London, 1914.
_An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Old Stone Crosses
of Somerset_, by CHARLES POOLEY, F.S.A. London, 1877.
"Crosses of Somerset," an Appendix to Pooley's work, was
contributed by E. H. BATES HARBIN to _Notes and Queries
for Somerset and Dorset_. Vol. XV., Part 118. Sherborne, 1917.
_The Old Stone Crosses of Somersetshire_, by ALEX.
GORDON, in two parts, in _The Reliquary_, October 1895 and
July 1896.
"Wolverhampton Cross Shaft," by Professor W. R.
LETHABY, in _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries_.
Vol. XXV., N.S., pp. 158-159.
"Pre-Norman Cross Shaft at Nunburnholme, Yorkshire," by J.
ROMILLY ALLEN, in _The Reliquary_.
INDEX TO TEXT
_N.B._--Items in italics refer to the subject of LYCHGATES, while all
other items refer to CROSSES.
_See also Alphabetical List of Illustrations at the commencement of
the Book_
Abingdon Cross, 110
"Actes and Monuments", 15, 18
Alexander of Abingdon, 95
Angle-pedestals, 43
Anglican Runes, 32
_Ashprington Lychgate_, 164
_Atherington Lychgate_, 164
Banbury Cross, 24
Battle, John of, 95
Baxter, Richard, 16
_Berrynarbor Lychgate_, 164
_Bettws-y-Coed Lychgate_, 168
Bishop's Lydeard, 14
Bishop's Stortford, 18
Boundary Crosses, 13
Brackley, Northants., 16
Bradshaigh, Sir William, 24
_Caerhun Lychgate_, 168
_Caerwys (Flints.) Lychgate_, 165
Calvary, 42
Cavities in Base or Steps, 14
Ceremonial Functions, 21
Charing Cross, London, 18
Cheapside Cross, London, 18
Chester High Cross, 18, 25, 158
Constantine, Emperor, 1
Cornish Type, 27
Crown Steeples, 137
Crucifixion, 34
Dane's Cross, Wolverhampton, 37
Demolitions by Parliamentary Visitors, 16
_Derwen Lychgate_, 165
Diamond-pointed Step, 42
Distribution of Remaining Crosses, 9
"Dives et Pauper", 1
_Dolwyddelan Lychgate_, 168
Dowsing's "Journal", 16
Dunstable, Eleanor Cross, 101
Eglwyscummin, Carmarthenshire, 15
Eleanor Crosses, 94-108
" Plans, 95
" Royal Account Rolls, 95
Eleanor Cross, Dunstable, 101
" St Albans, 101
" Stony Stratford, 101
" Woburn, 101
Eleanor of Castile, 94
Elizabeth, Queen, 106
Evangelistic Symbols, 34
Fyfield, Berks., 16
Gallows, The Cross used as, 25
Hardley, Norfolk, 13
Head of Cross, Varieties of Form, 47
Henry VI., 41
" VIII., 41
Hire of Labourers at Cross, 26
Iconoclastic Movement, 15
Ipswich, Preaching Cross, 152
Jeanne d'Arc, 7
Jews' Cross, Oxford, 19
Knop, Treatment of, 46
Launde, Sir Robert, 102
Leek, Staffs., 37
Liverpool, Cross formerly at, 16
_Llanfaglan, Lychgate_, 168
_Llanrhychwyn Lychgate_, 168
_Llanrug Lychgate_, 168
London, Crosses at, 18, 102
" Minor Preaching Crosses, 120
" Paul's Cross, 113-120
_Long Compton Lychgate_, 164
Louth, Lincs., 25
_Lychcrosses_, 165
_Lychgates_, 164-168
" _Classification of Types_, 164
" _Construction_, 165
" _Distribution of_, 165
" _Materials Used_, 165
_Lychseats_, 165
_Lychstones_, 165
Lyme, Dorset, 25
Margaret of Anjou, 41
Market Crosses, 2, 125-157
" General Intent of, 125
" Tolls, 128
Melton Mowbray, 18
Menhirs, 27
Mercian Type, 34
Monoliths, 1, 27
Monmouth, Duke of, 25
Netheway, John, 7
Nevill's Cross, Durham, 22
Niche in Head, 161
" Socket or Shaft, 9
Outdoor Processions to Cross, 9
Oxford, Jews' Cross, 19
"Palm Crosses", 13
" Sunday Ceremonials, 13
Paul's Cross, London (see London), 113-120
Pecocke, Bishop of Chichester, 116
_Penshurst Lychgate_, 164
Percy's Cross, 41
Peterborough, 26
"Poor Soul's Light", 163
Preaching Crosses, 2, 113-124
Processionate to Cross, 9
Proclamations from Crosses, 25
Ravensworth "Butter Cross", 22
Reding in Eboney, Kent, 7
Regensburg, Bavaria, 163
Rhuddlan, 26
Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, 32
St Albans, Eleanor Cross, 101
" Preaching Cross, 101
St Cwyfan's Stone, 35
St Patrick, 27
Sacrilege and Profanity, 15
Sanctuary Crosses, 21
Scarborough, Butter Cross, 111
Sedgemoor, Battle of, 25
Shaft-on-Steps Type, 42
Shaft Treatment, 44, 45
Smithfield, Cow Cross, 18
Socket, Treatment of, 45
South Littleton, Worcestershire, 15
Statues of Eleanor Crosses, 96
Steps, Treatment of, 44
Stony Stratford, Eleanor Cross, 101
Thornhill, Sir James, 154
Tolls of Market Cross, 128
_Turnstile Lychgates_, 164
Unclassified Varieties of Crosses, 158
Wansford, Northants., 21
"Weeping Crosses", 26
Whitford, Flintshire, 34
_Whitford " Lychgate_, 165
Wigan Cross, Lancs., 24
William de Bley's Constitution, 13
Wither, Joan, 7
Woburn, Beds., Eleanor Cross at, 101
Wolsey, Cardinal, 118
_Woodleigh (Derwen), Deanery of, Lychgates_, 165
Wynken de Worde, 1
_Printed in Great Britain at_ THE DARIEN PRESS, _Edinburgh_
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Obvious spelling and punctuation errors have been corrected.
2. Page 116, paragraph 2, the name Robert Hawke has been corrected to
Robert Hawle "Robert Hauley (Haule or Hawle)" - records at
Westminster Abbey.
3. Superscripts are represented using the caret character, e.g. D^r.
4. Italics are shown as _text_.
5. In the TOPOGRAPHICAL LIST OF SUBJECTS ILLUSTRATED, the page number
that pertains to the bracketed lines, is always at the bottom
bracket.
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