_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]