CROSSES
A careful study of the ordnance maps of certain counties of England
reveals the extraordinary number of ancient crosses which are
scattered over the length and breadth of the district. Local names
often suggest the existence of an ancient cross, such as Blackrod, or
Black-rood, Oakenrod, Crosby, Cross Hall, Cross Hillock. But if the
student sally forth to seek this sacred symbol of the Christian faith,
he will often be disappointed. The cross has vanished, and even the
recollection of its existence has completely passed away. Happily not
all have disappeared, and in our travels we shall be able to discover
many of these interesting specimens of ancient art, but not a tithe of
those that once existed are now to be discovered.
Many causes have contributed to their disappearance. The Puritans
waged insensate war against the cross. It was in their eyes an idol
which must be destroyed. They regarded them as popish superstitions,
and objected greatly to the custom of "carrying the corse towards the
church all garnished with crosses, which they set down by the way at
every cross, and there all of them devoutly on their knees make
prayers for the dead."[45] Iconoclastic mobs tore down the sacred
symbol in blind fury. In the summer of 1643 Parliament ordered that
all crucifixes, crosses, images, and pictures should be obliterated or
otherwise destroyed, and during the same year the two Houses passed a
resolution for the destruction of all crosses throughout the kingdom.
They ordered Sir Robert Harlow to superintend the levelling to the
ground of St. Paul's Cross, Charing Cross, and that in Cheapside, and
a contemporary print shows the populace busily engaged in tearing down
the last. Ladders are placed against the structure, workmen are busy
hammering the figures, and a strong rope is attached to the actual
cross on the summit and eager hands are dragging it down. Similar
scenes were enacted in many other towns, villages, and cities of
England, and the wonder is that any crosses should have been left. But
a vast number did remain in order to provide further opportunities for
vandalism and wanton mischief, and probably quite as many have
disappeared during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as those
which were destroyed by Puritan iconoclasts. When trade and commerce
developed, and villages grew into towns, and sleepy hollows became
hives of industry, the old market-places became inconveniently small,
and market crosses with their usually accompanying stocks and
pillories were swept away as useless obstructions to traffic.[46] Thus
complaints were made with regard to the market-place at Colne. There
was no room for the coaches to turn. Idlers congregated on the steps
of the cross and interfered with the business of the place. It was
pronounced a nuisance, and in 1882 was swept away. Manchester market
cross existed until 1816, when for the sake of utility and increased
space it was removed. A stately Jacobean Proclamation cross remained
at Salford until 1824. The Preston Cross, or rather obelisk,
consisting of a clustered Gothic column, thirty-one feet high,
standing on a lofty pedestal which rested on three steps, was taken
down by an act of vandalism in 1853. The Covell Cross at Lancaster
shared its fate, being destroyed in 1826 by the justices when they
purchased the house now used as the judges' lodgings. A few years ago
it was rebuilt as a memorial of the accession of King Edward VII.
[45] Report of the State of Lancashire in 1590 (Chetham Society,
Vol. XCVI, p. 5).
[46] _Ancient Crosses of Lancashire_, by Henry Taylor.
Individuals too, as well as corporations, have taken a hand in the
overthrow of crosses. There was a wretch named Wilkinson, vicar of
Goosnargh, Lancashire, who delighted in their destruction. He was a
zealous Protestant, and on account of his fame as a prophet of evil
his deeds were not interfered with by his neighbours. He used to
foretell the deaths of persons obnoxious to him, and unfortunately
several of his prophecies were fulfilled, and he earned the dreaded
character of a wizard. No one dared to prevent him, and with his own
hands he pulled down several of these venerable monuments. Some
drunken men in the early years of the nineteenth century pulled down
the old market cross at Rochdale. There was a cross on the
bowling-green at Whalley in the seventeenth century, the fall of which
is described by a cavalier, William Blundell, in 1642. When some
gentlemen came to use the bowling-green they found their game
interfered with by the fallen cross. A strong, powerful man was
induced to remove it. He reared it, and tried to take it away by
wresting it from edge to edge, but his foot slipped; down he fell, and
the cross falling upon him crushed him to death. A neighbour
immediately he heard the news was filled with apprehension of a
similar fate, and confessed that he and the deceased had thrown down
the cross. It was considered a dangerous act to remove a cross, though
the hope of discovering treasure beneath it often urged men to essay
the task. A farmer once removed an old boundary stone, thinking it
would make a good "buttery stone." But the results were dire. Pots and
pans, kettles and crockery placed upon it danced a clattering dance
the livelong night, and spilled their contents, disturbed the farmer's
rest, and worrited the family. The stone had to be conveyed back to
its former resting-place, and the farm again was undisturbed by
tumultuous spirits. Some of these crosses have been used for
gate-posts. Vandals have sometimes wanted a sun-dial in their
churchyards, and have ruthlessly knocked off the head and upper part
of the shaft of a cross, as they did at Halton, Lancashire, in order
to provide a base for their dial. In these and countless other ways
have these crosses suffered, and certainly, from the æsthetic and
architectural point of view, we have to bewail the loss of many of the
most lovely monuments of the piety and taste of our forefathers.
We will now gather up the fragments of the ancient crosses of England
ere these also vanish from our country. They served many purposes and
were of divers kinds. There were preaching-crosses, on the steps of
which the early missionary or Saxon priest stood when he proclaimed
the message of the gospel, ere churches were built for worship. These
wandering clerics used to set up crosses in the villages, and beneath
their shade preached, baptized, and said Mass. The pagan Saxons
worshipped stone pillars; so in order to wean them from their
superstition the Christian missionaries erected these stone crosses
and carved upon them the figures of the Saviour and His Apostles,
displaying before the eyes of their hearers the story of the Cross
written in stone. The north of England has many examples of these
crosses, some of which were fashioned by St. Wilfrid, Archbishop of
York, in the eighth century. When he travelled about his diocese a
large number of monks and workmen attended him, and amongst these were
the cutters in stone, who made the crosses and erected them on the
spots which Wilfrid consecrated to the worship of God. St. Paulinus
and others did the same. Hence arose a large number of these Saxon
works of art, which we propose to examine and to try to discover the
meaning of some of the strange sculptures found upon them.
[Illustration: Strethem Cross, Isle of Ely.]
In spite of iconoclasm and vandalism there remains in England a vast
number of pre-Norman crosses, and it will be possible to refer only to
the most noted and curious examples. These belong chiefly to four main
schools of art--the Celtic, Saxon, Roman, and Scandinavian. These
various streams of northern and classical ideas met and were blended
together, just as the wild sagas of the Vikings and the teaching of
the gospel showed themselves together in sculptured representations
and symbolized the victory of the Crucified One over the legends of
heathendom. The age and period of these crosses, the greater influence
of one or other of these schools have wrought differences; the beauty
and delicacy of the carving is in most cases remarkable, and we stand
amazed at the superabundance of the inventive faculty that could
produce such wondrous work. A great characteristic of these early
sculptures is the curious interlacing scroll-work, consisting of
knotted and interlaced cords of divers patterns and designs. There is
an immense variety in this carving of these early artists. Examples
are shown of geometrical designs, of floriated ornament, of which the
conventional vine pattern is the most frequent, and of rope-work and
other interlacing ornament. We can find space to describe only a few
of the most remarkable.
The famous Bewcastle Cross stands in the most northern corner of the
county of Cumberland. Only the shaft remains. In its complete
condition it must have been at least twenty-one feet high. A runic
inscription on the west side records that it was erected "in memory of
Alchfrith lately king" of Northumbria. He was the son of Oswy, the
friend and patron of St. Wilfrid, who loved art so much that he
brought workmen from Italy to build churches and carve stone, and he
decided in favour of the Roman party at the famous Synod of Whitby. On
the south side the runes tell that the cross was erected in "the first
year of Ecgfrith, King of this realm," who began to reign 670 A.D. On
the west side are three panels containing deeply incised figures, the
lowest one of which has on his wrist a hawk, an emblem of nobility;
the other three sides are filled with interlacing, floriated, and
geometrical ornament. Bishop Browne believes that these scrolls and
interlacings had their origin in Lombardy and not in Ireland, that
they were Italian and not Celtic, and that the same sort of designs
were used in the southern land early in the seventh century, whence
they were brought by Wilfrid to this country.
Another remarkable cross is that of Ruthwell, now sheltered from wind
and weather in the Durham Cathedral Museum. It is very similar to that
at Bewcastle, though probably not wrought by the same hands. In the
panels are sculptures representing events in the life of our Lord. The
lowest panel is too defaced for us to determine the subject; on the
second we see the flight into Egypt; on the third figures of Paul, the
first hermit, and Anthony, the first monk, are carved; on the fourth
is a representation of our Lord treading under foot the heads of
swine; and on the highest there is the figure of St. John the Baptist
with the lamb. On the reverse side are the Annunciation, the
Salutation, and other scenes of gospel history, and the other sides
are covered with floral and other decoration. In addition to the
figures there are five stanzas of an Anglo-Saxon poem of singular
beauty expressed in runes. It is the story of the Crucifixion told in
touching words by the cross itself, which narrates its own sad tale
from the time when it was a growing tree by the woodside until at
length, after the body of the Lord had been taken down--
The warriors left me there
Standing defiled with blood.
On the head of the cross are inscribed the words "Cædmon made
me"--Cædmon the first of English poets who poured forth his songs in
praise of Almighty God and told in Saxon poetry the story of the
Creation and of the life of our Lord.
Another famous cross is that at Gosforth, which is of a much later
date and of a totally different character from those which we have
described. The carvings show that it is not Anglian, but that it is
connected with Viking thought and work. On it is inscribed the story
of one of the sagas, the wild legends of the Norsemen, preserved by
their scalds or bards, and handed down from generation to generation
as the precious traditions of their race. On the west side we see
Heimdal, the brave watchman of the gods, with his sword withstanding
the powers of evil, and holding in his left hand the Gialla horn, the
terrible blast of which shook the world. He is overthrowing Hel, the
grim goddess of the shades of death, who is riding on the pale horse.
Below we see Loki, the murderer of the holy Baldur, the blasphemer of
the gods, bound by strong chains to the sharp edges of a rock, while
as a punishment for his crimes a snake drops poison upon his face,
making him yell with pain, and the earth quakes with his convulsive
tremblings. His faithful wife Sigyn catches the poison in a cup, but
when the vessel is full she is obliged to empty it, and then a drop
falls on the forehead of Loki, the destroyer, and the earth shakes on
account of his writhings. The continual conflict between good and evil
is wonderfully described in these old Norse legends. On the reverse
side we see the triumph of Christianity, a representation of the
Crucifixion, and beneath this the woman bruising the serpent's head.
In the former sculptures the monster is shown with two heads; here it
has only one, and that is being destroyed. Christ is conquering the
powers of evil on the cross. In another fragment at Gosforth we see
Thor fishing for the Midgard worm, the offspring of Loki, a serpent
cast into the sea which grows continually and threatens the world with
destruction. A bull's head is the bait which Thor uses, but fearing
for the safety of his boat, he has cut the fishing-line and released
the monstrous worm; giant whales sport in the sea which afford pastime
to the mighty Thor. Such are some of the strange tales which these
crosses tell.
There is an old Viking legend inscribed on the cross at Leeds. Volund,
who is the same mysterious person as our Wayland Smith, is seen
carrying off a swan-maiden. At his feet are his hammer, anvil,
bellows, and pincers. The cross was broken to pieces in order to make
way for the building of the old Leeds church hundreds of years ago,
but the fragments have been pieced together, and we can see the
swan-maiden carried above the head of Volund, her wings hanging down
and held by two ropes that encircle her waist. The smith holds her by
her back hair and by the tail of her dress. There were formerly
several other crosses which have been broken up and used as building
material.
At Halton, Lancashire, there is a curious cross of inferior
workmanship, but it records the curious mingling of Pagan and
Christian ideas and the triumph of the latter over the Viking deities.
On one side we see emblems of the Four Evangelists and the figures of
saints; on the other are scenes from the Sigurd legend. Sigurd sits at
the anvil with hammer and tongs and bellows, forging a sword. Above
him is shown the magic blade completed, with hammer and tongs, while
Fafni writhes in the knotted throes that everywhere signify his death.
Sigurd is seen toasting Fafni's heart on a spit. He has placed the
spit on a rest, and is turning it with one hand, while flames ascend
from the faggots beneath. He has burnt his finger and is putting it to
his lips. Above are the interlacing boughs of a sacred tree, and sharp
eyes may detect the talking pies that perch thereon, to which Sigurd
is listening. On one side we see the noble horse Grani coming
riderless home to tell the tale of Sigurd's death, and above is the
pit with its crawling snakes that yawns for Gunnar and for all the
wicked whose fate is to be turned into hell. On the south side are
panels filled with a floriated design representing the vine and
twisted knot-work rope ornamentation. On the west is a tall
Resurrection cross with figures on each side, and above a winged and
seated figure with two others in a kneeling posture. Possibly these
represent the two Marys kneeling before the angel seated on the stone
of the holy sepulchre on the morning of the Resurrection of our Lord.
A curious cross has at last found safety after many vicissitudes in
Hornby Church, Lancashire. It is one of the most beautiful fragments
of Anglian work that has come down to modern times. One panel shows a
representation of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. At the foot
are shown the two fishes and the five loaves carved in bold relief. A
conventional tree springs from the central loaf, and on each side is a
nimbed figure. The carving is still so sharp and crisp that it is
difficult to realize that more than a thousand years have elapsed
since the sculptor finished his task.
It would be a pleasant task to wander through all the English counties
and note all pre-Norman crosses that remain in many a lonely
churchyard; but such a lengthy journey and careful study are too
extended for our present purpose. Some of them were memorials of
deceased persons; others, as we have seen, were erected by the early
missionaries; but preaching crosses were erected and used in much
later times; and we will now examine some of the medieval examples
which time has spared, and note the various uses to which they were
adapted. The making of graves has often caused the undermining and
premature fall of crosses and monuments; hence early examples of
churchyard crosses have often passed away and medieval ones been
erected in their place. Churchyard crosses were always placed at the
south side of the church, and always faced the east. The carving and
ornamentation naturally follow the style of architecture prevalent at
the period of their erection. They had their uses for ceremonial and
liturgical purposes, processions being made to them on Palm Sunday,
and it is stated in Young's _History of Whitby_ that "devotees creeped
towards them and kissed them on Good Fridays, so that a cross was
considered as a necessary appendage to every cemetery." Preaching
crosses were also erected in distant parts of large parishes in the
days when churches were few, and sometimes market crosses were used
for this purpose.
WAYSIDE OR WEEPING CROSSES
Along the roads of England stood in ancient times many a roadside or
weeping cross. Their purpose is well set forth in the work _Dives et
Pauper_, printed at Westminster in 1496. Therein it is stated: "For
this reason ben ye crosses by ye way, that when folk passynge see the
crosses, they sholde thynke on Hym that deyed on the crosse, and
worshyppe Hym above all things." Along the pilgrim ways doubtless
there were many, and near villages and towns formerly they stood, but
unhappily they made such convenient gate-posts when the head was
knocked off. Fortunately several have been rescued and restored. It
was a very general custom to erect these wayside crosses along the
roads leading to an old parish church for the convenience of funerals.
There were no hearses in those days; hence the coffin had to be
carried a long way, and the roads were bad, and bodies heavy, and the
bearers were not sorry to find frequent resting-places, and the
mourners' hearts were comforted by constant prayer as they passed
along the long, sad road with their dear ones for the last time. These
wayside crosses, or weeping crosses, were therefore of great practical
utility. Many of the old churches in Lancashire were surrounded by a
group of crosses, arranged in radiating lines along the converging
roads, and at suitable distances for rest. You will find such ranges
of crosses in the parishes of Aughton, Ormskirk, and Burscough Priory,
and at each a prayer for the soul of the departed was offered or the
_De profundis_ sung. Every one is familiar with the famous Eleanor
crosses erected by King Edward I to mark the spots where the body of
his beloved Queen rested when it was being borne on its last sad
pilgrimage to Westminster Abbey.
MARKET CROSSES
Market crosses form an important section of our subject, and are an
interesting feature of the old market-places wherein they stand. Mr.
Gomme contends that they were the ancient meeting-places of the local
assemblies, and we know that for centuries in many towns they have
been the rallying-points for the inhabitants. Here fairs were
proclaimed, and are still in some old-fashioned places, beginning with
the quaint formula "O yes, O yes, O yes!" a strange corruption of the
old Norman-French word _oyez_, meaning "Hear ye." I have printed in my
book _English Villages_ a very curious proclamation of a fair and
market which was read a few years ago at Broughton-in-Furness by the
steward of the lord of the manor from the steps of the old market
cross. Very comely and attractive structures are many of these ancient
crosses. They vary very much in different parts of the country and
according to the period in which they were erected. The earliest are
simple crosses with steps. Later on they had niches for sculptured
figures, and then in the southern shires a kind of penthouse, usually
octagonal in shape, enclosed the cross, in order to provide shelter
from the weather for the market-folk. In the north the hardy
Yorkshiremen and Lancastrians recked not for rain and storms, and few
covered-in crosses can be found. You will find some beautiful
specimens of these at Malmesbury, Chichester, Somerton, Shepton
Mallet, Cheddar, Axbridge, Nether Stowey, Dunster, South Petherton,
Banwell, and other places.
Salisbury market cross, of which we give an illustration, is
remarkable for its fine and elaborate Gothic architectural features,
its numerous niches and foliated pinnacles. At one time a sun-dial and
ball crowned the structure, but these have been replaced by a cross.
It is usually called the Poultry Cross. Near it and in other parts of
the city are quaint overhanging houses. Though the Guildhall has
vanished, destroyed in the eighteenth century, the Joiners' Hall, the
Tailors' Hall, the meeting-places of the old guilds, the Hall of John
Halle, and the Old George are still standing with some of their
features modified, but not sufficiently altered to deprive them of
interest.
[Illustration: The Market Cross, Salisbury, Wilts. Oct. 1908]
Sometimes you will find above a cross an overhead chamber, which was
used for the storing of market appurtenances. The reeve of the lord of
the manor, or if the town was owned by a monastery, or the market and
fair had been granted to a religious house, the abbot's official sat
in this covered place to receive dues from the merchants or
stall-holders.
There are no less than two hundred old crosses in Somerset, many of
them fifteenth-century work. Saxon crosses exist at Rowberrow and
Kelston; a twelfth-century cross at Harptree; Early English crosses at
Chilton Trinity, Dunster, and Broomfield; Decorated crosses at
Williton, Wiveliscombe, Bishops-Lydeard, Chewton Mendip, and those at
Sutton Bingham and Wraghall are fifteenth century. But not all these
are market crosses. The south-west district of England is particularly
rich in these relics of ancient piety, but many have been allowed to
disappear. Glastonbury market cross, a fine Perpendicular structure
with a roof, was taken down in 1808, and a new one with no surrounding
arcade was erected in 1846. The old one bore the arms of Richard Bere,
abbot of Glastonbury, who died in 1524. The wall of an adjacent house
has a piece of stone carving representing a man and a woman clasping
hands, and tradition asserts that this formed part of the original
cross. Together with the cross was an old conduit, which frequently
accompanied the market cross. Cheddar Cross is surrounded by its
battlemented arcade with grotesque gargoyles, a later erection, the
shaft going through the roof. Taunton market cross was erected in 1867
in place of a fifteenth-century structure destroyed in 1780. On its
steps the Duke of Monmouth was proclaimed king, and from the window of
the Old Angel Inn Judge Jeffreys watched with pleasure the hanging of
the deluded followers of the duke from the tie-beams of the Market
Arcade. Dunster market cross is known as the Yarn Market, and was
erected in 1600 by George Luttrell, sheriff of the county of Somerset.
The town was famous for its kersey cloths, sometimes called
"Dunsters," which were sold under the shade of this structure.
Wymondham, in the county of Norfolk, standing on the high road between
Norwich and London, has a fine market cross erected in 1617. A great
fire raged here in 1615, when three hundred houses were destroyed, and
probably the old cross vanished with them, and this one was erected to
supply its place.
The old cross at Wells, built by William Knight, bishop of Bath in
1542, was taken down in 1783. Leland states that it was "a right
sumptuous Peace of worke." Over the vaulted roof was the _Domus
Civica_ or town hall. The tolls of the market were devoted to the
support of the choristers of Wells Cathedral. Leland also records a
market cross at Bruton which had six arches and a pillar in the middle
"for market folkes to stande yn." It was built by the last abbot of
Bruton in 1533, and was destroyed in 1790. Bridgwater Cross was
removed in 1820, and Milverton in 1850. Happily the inhabitants of
some towns and villages were not so easily deprived of their ancient
crosses, and the people of Croscombe, Somerset, deserve great credit
for the spirited manner in which they opposed the demolition of their
cross about thirty years ago.
Witney Butter Cross, Oxon, the town whence blankets come, has a
central pillar which stands on three steps, the superstructure being
supported on thirteen circular pillars. An inscription on the lantern
above records the following:--
GULIEIMUS BLAKE
Armiger de Coggs
1683
Restored 1860
1889
1894
It has a steep roof, gabled and stone-slated, which is not improved
by the pseudo-Gothic barge-boards, added during the restorations.
Many historical events of great importance have taken place at these
market crosses which have been so hardly used. Kings were always
proclaimed here at their accession, and would-be kings have also
shared that honour. Thus at Lancaster in 1715 the Pretender was
proclaimed king as James III, and, as we have stated, the Duke of
Monmouth was proclaimed king at Taunton and Bridgwater. Charles II
received that honour at Lancaster market cross in 1651, nine years
before he ruled. Banns of marriage were published here in Cromwell's
time, and these crosses have witnessed all the cruel punishments which
were inflicted on delinquents in the "good old days." The last step of
the cross was often well worn, as it was the seat of the culprits who
sat in the stocks. Stocks, whipping-posts, and pillories, of which we
shall have much to say, always stood nigh the cross, and as late as
1822 a poor wretch was tied to a cart-wheel at the Colne Cross,
Lancashire, and whipped.
Sometimes the cross is only a cross in name, and an obelisk has
supplanted the Christian symbol. The change is deemed to be
attributable to the ideas of some of the Reformers who desired to
assert the supremacy of the Crown over the Church. Hence they placed
an orb on the top of the obelisk surmounted by a small, plain Latin
cross, and later on a large crown took the place of the orb and cross.
At Grantham the Earl of Dysart erected an obelisk which has an
inscription stating that it occupies the site of the Grantham Eleanor
cross. This is a strange error, as this cross stood on an entirely
different site on St. Peter's Hill and was destroyed by Cromwell's
troopers. The obelisk replaced the old market cross, which was
regarded with much affection and reverence by the inhabitants, who in
1779, when it was taken down by the lord of the manor, immediately
obtained a mandamus for its restoration. The Mayor and Corporation
still proclaim the Lent Fair in quaint and archaic language at this
poor substitute for the old cross.
[Illustration: Under the old Butter Cross, Whitney Oxon]
One of the uses of the market cross was to inculcate the sacredness of
bargains. There is a curious stone erection in the market-place at
Middleham, Yorkshire, which seems to have taken the place of the
market cross and to have taught the same truth. It consists of a
platform on which are two pillars; one carries the effigy of some
animal in a kneeling posture, resembling a sheep or a cow, the other
supports an octagonal object traditionally supposed to represent a
cheese. The farmers used to walk up the opposing flights of steps when
concluding a bargain and shake hands over the sculptures.[47]
[47] _Ancient Crosses and Holy Wells of Lancashire,_ by Henry
Taylor, F.S.A.
BOUNDARY CROSSES
Crosses marked in medieval times the boundaries of ecclesiastical
properties, which by this sacred symbol were thus protected from
encroachment and spoliation. County boundaries were also marked by
crosses and meare stones. The seven crosses of Oldham marked the
estate owned by the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.
CROSSES AT CROSS-ROADS AND HOLY WELLS
Where roads meet and many travellers passed a cross was often erected.
It was a wayside or weeping cross. There pilgrims knelt to implore
divine aid for their journey and protection from outlaws and robbers,
from accidents and sudden death. At holy wells the cross was set in
order to remind the frequenters of the sacredness of the springs and
to wean them from all superstitious thoughts and pagan customs. Sir
Walter Scott alludes to this connexion of the cross and well in
_Marmion_, when he tells of "a little fountain cell" bearing the
legend:--
Drink, weary pilgrim, drink and pray
For the kind soul of Sybil Grey,
Who built this cross and well.
"In the corner of a field on the Billington Hall Farm, just
outside the parish of Haughton, there lies the base, with a
portion of the shaft, of a fourteenth-century wayside cross. It
stands within ten feet of an old disused lane leading from
Billington to Bradley. Common report pronounced it to be an old
font. Report states that it was said to be a stone dropped out of
a cart as the stones from Billington Chapel were being conveyed to
Bradley to be used in building its churchyard wall. A
superstitious veneration has always attached to it. A former owner
of the property wrote as follows: 'The late Mr. Jackson, who was a
very superstitious man, once told me that a former tenant of the
farm, whilst ploughing the field, pulled up the stone, and the
same day his team of wagon-horses was all drowned. He then put it
into the same place again, and all went on right; and that he
himself would not have it disturbed upon any account.' A similar
legend is attached to another cross. Cross Llywydd, near Raglan,
called The White Cross, which is still complete, and has evidently
been whitewashed, was moved by a man from its base at some
cross-roads to his garden. From that time he had no luck and all
his animals died. He attributed this to his sacrilegious act and
removed it to a piece of waste ground. The next owner afterwards
enclosed the waste with the cross standing in it.
"The Haughton Cross is only a fragment--almost precisely similar
to a fragment at Butleigh, in Somerset, of early
fourteenth-century date. The remaining part is clearly the top
stone of the base, measuring 2 ft. 1½ in. square by 1 ft. 6 in.
high, and the lowest portion of the shaft sunk into it, and
measuring 1 ft. 1 in. square by 10½ in. high. Careful excavation
showed that the stone is probably still standing on its original
site."[48]
"There is in the same parish, where there are four cross-roads, a
place known as 'The White Cross.' Not a vestige of a stone
remains. But on a slight mound at the crossing stands a venerable
oak, now dying. In Monmouthshire oaks have often been so planted
on the sites of crosses; and in some cases the bases of the
crosses still remain. There are in that county about thirty sites
of such crosses, and in seventeen some stones still exist; and
probably there are many more unknown to the antiquary, but hidden
away in corners of old paths, and in field-ways, and in ditches
that used to serve as roads. A question of great interest arises.
What were the origin and use of these wayside crosses? and why
were so many of them, especially at cross-roads, known as 'The
White Cross'? At Abergavenny a cross stood at cross-roads. There
is a White Cross Street in London and one in Monmouth, where a
cross stood. Were these planted by the White Cross Knights (the
Knights of Malta, or of S. John of Jerusalem)? Or are they the
work of the Carmelite, or White, Friars? There is good authority
for the general idea that they were often used as preaching
stations, or as praying stations, as is so frequently the case in
Brittany. But did they at cross-roads in any way serve the purpose
of the modern sign-post? They are certainly of very early origin.
The author of _Ecclesiastical Polity_ says that the erection of
wayside crosses was a very ancient practice. Chrysostom says that
they were common in his time. Eusebius says that their building
was begun by Constantine the Great to eradicate paganism. Juvenal
states that a shapeless post, with a marble head of Mercury on it,
was erected at cross-roads to point out the way; and Eusebius says
that wherever Constantine found a statue of Bivialia (the Roman
goddess who delivered from straying from the path), or of
Mercurius Triceps (who served the same kind purpose for the
Greeks), he pulled it down and had a cross placed upon the site.
If, then, these cross-road crosses of later medieval times also
had something to do with directions for the way, another source of
the designation 'White Cross' is by no means to be laughed out of
court, viz. that they were whitewashed, and thus more prominent
objects by day, and especially by night. It is quite certain that
many of them were whitewashed, for the remains of this may still
be seen on them. And the use of whitewash or plaister was far more
usual in England than is generally known. There is no doubt that
the whole of the outside of the abbey church of St. Albans, and of
White Castle, from top to base, were coated with whitewash."[49]
[48] _Ancient Crosses and Holy Wells of Lancashire,_ by Henry
Taylor, F.S.A.
[49] _Ibid._
Whether they were whitened or not, or whether they served as
guide-posts or stations for prayer, it is well that they should be
carefully preserved and restored as memorials of the faith of our
forefathers, and for the purpose of raising the heart of the modern
pilgrim to Christ, the Saviour of men.
SANCTUARY CROSSES
When criminals sought refuge in ancient sanctuaries, such as Durham,
Beverley, Ripon, Manchester, and other places which provided the
privilege, having claimed sanctuary and been provided with a
distinctive dress, they were allowed to wander within certain
prescribed limits. At Beverley Minster the fugitive from justice could
wander with no fear of capture to a distance extending a mile from the
church in all directions. Richly carved crosses marked the limit of
the sanctuary. A peculiar reverence for the cross protected the
fugitives from violence if they kept within the bounds. In Cheshire,
in the wild region of Delamere Forest, there are several ancient
crosses erected for the convenience of travellers; and under their
shadows they were safe from robbery and violence at the hands of
outlaws, who always respected the reverence attached to these symbols
of Christianity.
CROSSES AS GUIDE-POSTS
In wild moorland and desolate hills travellers often lost their way.
Hence crosses were set up to guide them along the trackless heaths.
They were as useful as sign-posts, and conveyed an additional lesson.
You will find such crosses in the desolate country on the borderland
of Yorkshire and Lancashire. They were usually placed on the summit of
hills. In Buckinghamshire there are two crosses cut in the turf on a
spur of the Chilterns, Whiteleaf and Bledlow crosses, which were
probably marks for the direction of travellers through the wild and
dangerous woodlands, though popular tradition connects them with the
memorials of ancient battles between the Saxons and Danes.
From time out of mind crosses have been the rallying point for the
discussion of urgent public affairs. It was so in London. Paul's
Cross was the constant meeting-place of the citizens of London
whenever they were excited by oppressive laws, the troublesome
competition of "foreigners," or any attempt to interfere with their
privileges and liberties. The meetings of the shire or hundred moots
took place often at crosses, or other conspicuous or well-known
objects. Hundreds were named after them, such as the hundred of
Faircross in Berkshire, of Singlecross in Sussex, Normancross in
Huntingdonshire, and Brothercross and Guiltcross, or Gyldecross, in
Norfolk.
Stories and legends have clustered around them. There is the famous
Stump Cross in Cheshire, the subject of one of Nixon's prophecies. It
is supposed to be sinking into the ground. When it reaches the level
of the earth the end of the world will come. A romantic story is
associated with Mab's Cross, in Wigan, Lancashire. Sir William
Bradshaigh was a great warrior, and went crusading for ten years,
leaving his beautiful wife, Mabel, alone at Haigh Hall. A dastard
Welsh knight compelled her to marry him, telling her that her husband
was dead, and treated her cruelly; but Sir William came back to the
hall disguised as a palmer. Mabel, seeing in him some resemblance to
her former husband, wept sore, and was beaten by the Welshman. Sir
William made himself known to his tenants, and raising a troop,
marched to the hall. The Welsh knight fled, but Sir William followed
him and slew him at Newton, for which act he was outlawed a year and a
day. The lady was enjoined by her confessor to do penance by going
once a week, bare-footed and bare-legged, to a cross near Wigan, two
miles from the hall, and it is called Mab's Cross to this day. You can
see in Wigan Church the monument of Sir William and his lady, which
tells this sad story, and also the cross--at least, all that remains
of it--the steps, a pedestal, and part of the shaft--in Standisgate,
"to witness if I lie." It is true that Sir William was born ten years
after the last of the crusades had ended; but what does that matter?
He was probably fighting for his king, Edward II, against the Scots,
or he was languishing a prisoner in some dungeon. There was plenty of
fighting in those days for those who loved it, and where was the
Englishman then who did not love to fight for his king and country, or
seek for martial glory in other lands, if an ungrateful country did
not provide him with enough work for his good sword and ponderous
lance?
Such are some of the stories that cluster round these crosses. It is a
sad pity that so many should have been allowed to disappear. More have
fallen owing to the indifference and apathy of the people of England
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries than to the wanton and
iconoclastic destruction of the Puritans. They are holy relics of
primitive Christianity. On the lonely mountainsides the tired
traveller found in them a guide and friend, a director of his ways and
an uplifter of his soul. In the busy market-place they reminded the
trader of the sacredness of bargains and of the duty of honest
dealing. Holy truths were proclaimed from their steps. They connected
by a close and visible bond religious duties with daily life; and not
only as objects of antiquarian interest, but as memorials of the
religious feelings, habits, and customs of our forefathers, are they
worthy of careful preservation.