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]