The Project Gutenberg EBook of Old Crosses and Lychgates, by Aymer Vallance This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: Old Crosses and Lychgates Author: Aymer Vallance Release Date: November 27, 2017 [EBook #56059] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD CROSSES AND LYCHGATES *** Produced by deaurider, Karin Spence and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) OLD CROSSES AND LYCHGATES [Frontispiece 1. NORTHAMPTON ELEANOR CROSS [i] [iv] OLD CROSSES AND LYCHGATES BY AYMER VALLANCE LONDON B·T·BATSFORD, LTD 94, HIGH HOLBORN PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE DARIEN PRESS, EDINBURGH [v] [vi] 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 [vii] [viii] [ix] 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. Illus– tration No. Page Referred to in Text. Aldborough Photo, Frith & Co. 193 158 Alphington Del., J. Buckler 199 161 Ampney Crucis do. do. Photo, Rev. F. Sumner do. Rev. F. R. P. Sumner do. F. T. S. Houghton 97 98 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 do. do. do. Gibson & Sons do. do. do. do. do. do. 3 25 26 32 Bingley do. Frith & Co. 182 125 Bisley do. do. 197 163 Bishop's Lydeard do. Dr F. J. Allen 20 42, 44, 46 Blakemere Del., J. Buckler 15 13 Blanchland Abbey Photo, Gibson & Sons 44 41 Bleadon do. Dr F. J. Allen 89 48 Bonsall do. Frith & Co. 120 54 Bristol Engraving by S. and N. Buck, 1734 9 123 Brigstock Photo, B.T.B. 122 54 Bungay do. do. 187 157 Castle Combe do. do. do. Del., J. Buckler Photo, Frith & Co. Del., W. G. Allen do. do. 173 174 175 176 157 Carlton Peart Collection, R.I.B.A. 63 43 Charlton Mackerel Photo, Frith & Co. 19 42, 44 Charing Cross, nr. London do. do. do. do. Engraving by Ralph Agas, 1792, Crace Collection, British Museum Crowle Pennant Collection, British Museum Crace Collection, British Museum 135 136 137 108 Cheadle Photo, W. Watson 35 37 Cheapside Crosses, London do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. Photo, B.T.B., Guildhall Museum do. do. do. Water Colour Drawing at Society of Antiquaries, after Mural Painting at Cowdray Drawing in Pepysian Library, Cambridge Photo, G. Clinch, from Contemporary Woodcut 130 131 132 133 134 102 Cheddar do. Frith & Co. 165 146 Cheshunt, Waltham do. do. Vetusta Monumenta Del., J. Buckler Vetusta Monumenta 127 128 129 95, 101 Chester, High Pen Drawing by Randle Holme, Harleian MSS. 2073, British Museum 24 24, 158 Chichester do. do. do. Del., J. Coney (lent by F. H. Crossley) Photo, J. Valentine Print, Victoria and Albert Museum do. do. do. 11 161 162 163 137 Child's Wickham Photo, B.T.B. 7 54 Coventry Dugdale's Warwickshire 8 111 Cricklade Churchyard do. Town Cross Photo, Rev. F. R. P. Sumner do. Rev. F. Sumner 116 117 54 Croxden Del., J. Buckler 88 47 Crowcombe Photochrom Co. 118 46, 54 Cumnor Del., J. Buckler 59 43 [xi] [xii] Derwen do. do. Photo, Aymer Vallance do. do. do. do. 110 111 112 52 Doncaster Vetusta Monumenta 191 158 Dorchester Del., J. Buckler 65 44 Doulting do. do. Dr F. J. Allen do. do. do. do. 74 75 76 43, 44 Drayton Del., J. Buckler 54 46 Dundry do. J. K. Colling 78 43 Dunster Photo, J. Valentine 177 156 Elstow Peart Collection, R.I.B.A. 194 158 Eyam do. Photo, J. Valentine do. do. 27 28 32 Eynsham Del., J. Buckler, 1820 50 45 Fletton do. Print, Victoria and Albert Museum do. do. do. 40 41 37 Geddington do. Vetusta Monumenta Photochrom Co. 124 125 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 do. Grimsby Del., J. Buckler 49 45 Halesowen Photo, F. T. S. Houghton 82 47 Hardley Knight's Norfolk Antiquities, 1892 18 13 Headington do. Del., J. Buckler Photo, H. Taunt 69 70 44 Hedon Peart Collection, R.I.B.A. 79 46 Hereford, Whitefriars do. do. Del., J. Buckler Photochrom Co. 72 73 44 do. Preaching Cross Photo, Frith & Co. 143 122 Hexham do. Gibson & Sons 42 37 Higham Ferrers Markham's Old Crosses of Northamptonshire 55 46 Holbech Engraving by W. Stukeley 10 123 Horsington Del., after J. Buckler 53 46 Ipswich do. do. do. Diary of Sir James Thornhill Photo, Frank Woolnough, F.R.Met.S. Aquatint by Geo. Frost, 1812 Photo, Frank Woolnough, F.R.Met.S. 169 170 171 172 152 Irtlingborough Markham's Old Crosses of Northamptonshire 56 46 Irton Lysons' Magna Britannia 32 34 Iron Acton Photo, Rev. F. Sumner 144 122 Keyingham, Yorks. Peart Collection, R.I.B.A. 64 44 do. (from Lincolnshire) do. do. 80 47 Lanteglos Juxta Fowey do. do. Photo, Frith & Co. do. F. T. S. Houghton 94 95 49 Leicester Nichol's Leicestershire 12 152 Leighton Buzzard do. Engraving in Lyson's Bedfordshire Del., J. Buckler 146 147 124 Lichfield, Dean Dentons Old Engraving, Victoria and Albert Museum 154 142 London, West Cheap (see Cheapside, supra) do. Charing Cross (see Charing Cross, supra) [xiii] do. Paul's Cross do. do. Engraved from Drawing in Pepysian Library, Cambridge Panel Painting by John Gipkyn at Society of Antiquaries 141 142 113, 120 Lymm Photo, Frith & Co. 183 157 Madley do. Photo, Alfred Watkins, F.R.P.S. do. do. 101 102 51 Maidstone do. H. Elgar, from Drawing by E. Pretty 167 146 Malmesbury do. do. do. Dr G. Granville Buckley, F.S.A. Old Print, Victoria and Albert Museum do. do. do. 156 157 158 133 Maughold, Isle of Man do. do. Photo, J. Valentine do. Frith & Co. 86 87 46, 48 Mawgan-in-Pyder (Lanherne House Nunnery) Photo, J. Valentine 38 37 Mawgan-in-Pyder (Churchyard Cross) Mawgan-in-Pyder (Churchyard Cross) Lysons' Magna Britannia Photo, Frith & Co. 106 107 50 Mildenhall do. B.T.B. 13 154 Milverton, Somerset Del., J. Buckler, 1841 (per H. St. G. Gray) 185 156 Mitton do. do. do. do. do. 194 195 161 Mitchel Troy do. do. 57 45 Nether Stowey do. do. 1837 (per H. St. G. Gray) 184 156 Newmarket, Flintshire do. do. Photo, F. T. S. Houghton do. do. 90 91 48 Northampton, Eleanor Cross do. do. do. H. Cooper & Son Britton's Architectural Antiquities 1 126 95, 98 Northampton, Old Market Cross Water Colour in British Museum (MSS. Dept.), copy of Bridges' Northamptonshire 150 142 North Petherton Del., J. K. Colling 77 42 North Hinksey do. do. Del., J. Buckler do. do. do. do. 83 84 85 48 Norwich Blomfield's Antiquities of Norfolk (T. Sheldrake) 153 138 Nottingham Stretton MSS. 186 157 Oakham do. Photo, B.T.B. do. do. 178 179 156 Ombersley do. do. do. Frith & Co. Instrumenta Ecclesiastica do. do. 66 67 68 44 Oundle Markham's Old Crosses of Northamptonshire 168 156 Oxford, Jews' Cross do. do. do. do. Photo, B.T.B. do. do. 21 22 23 19 Paul's Cross, London (see London, Paul's Cross, supra) Pocklington do. Old Print, Victoria and Albert Museum do. do. 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 Northamptonshire 45 42 Repton Photo, Photochrom Co. 123 54 Ripley do. Aymer Vallance 196 162 Rocester do. Del., J. Buckler, 1832 do. do. 47 48 45 [xiv] Rothersthorp Markham's Old Crosses of Northamptonshire 46 47 Salisbury do. Del., J. C. Buckler Photo, Photochrom Co. 159 160 137 Sandbach do. do. Dr Ormerod's Cheshire do. do. J. Valentine & Co. 29 30 31 32 Shepton Mallet do. Photo, Dr F. J. Allen Gentleman's Magazine, 1781 151 152 128 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 do. do. 37 37 St Ives, Cornwall do. do. 96 50 St Michael's Mount do. Del., J. Buckler do. do. 104 105 52 St Donats do. Photo, Aymer Vallance Del., J. Buckler 108 109 46, 52 Stalbridge Photo, R. Wilkinson 58 43, 44, 46 Stanway Del., J. Buckler 60 43 Steeple Ashton do. do. 121 54 Stevington Peart Collection, R.I.B.A. 17 43 Stringston, Somersetshire Architectural Association Sketch Book 5 43 Swaffham Photo, B.T.B. 188 157 Taunton Drawing in British Museum, King's Collection 155 142 Thatcham Del., J. Buckler 61 43 Tottenham do. Old Engraving, 1788 do. Victoria and Albert Museum 139 140 111 Tyberton do. Photo, Alfred Watkins, F.R.P.S. do. do. 100 103 51 Wakefield Del., J. Buckler 190 157 Waltham Cross, Cheshunt (see Cheshunt, supra) Waterperry, Oxfordshire Del., J. Buckler 4 43 Whalley Photo, Gibson & Sons 34 37 Wells Sime's Map of Wells, British Museum, King's Collection 149 125 Wheston, Tideswell do. do. Engraving by F. L. Chantrey, R.A. Photo, F. Chapman 92 93 49 Whitford do. W. Marriot Dodson 36 35 Wicken Del., J. Buckler 62 43, 44 Winchester do. do. 145 124 Witney Photo, Henry Taunt 14 156 Wolverhampton, Dane's Cross Old Print, Victoria and Albert Museum 2 37 Wonford, St Loye's Del., Miss E. K. Prideaux 198 161 Woodstock Paul Sandby, 1777, The Antiquarian Repertory 189 157 Wooler Scott's Border Antiquities 43 37 Wymondham do. Photo, B.T.B. do. do. 180 181 156 Yarnton do. Del., J. Buckler, 1821 do. do. 51 52 44, 45 CHAPTER VIII.—LYCHGATES Anstey Del., J. Buckler 210 167 [xv] [xvi] Ashwell do. do. do. B.T.B. do. do. 215 216 217 218 165, 167 Beckenham do. do. Album at R.I.B.A. Del., J. Buckler Spring Gardens' Sketch Book 205 206 207 165, 166 Boughton, Monchelsea Del., J. Buckler 231 168 Bray do. Photo, Aymer Vallance Peart Collection, R.I.B.A. 202 203 164 Chalfont, St Giles Photo 204 164 Chiddingfold do. W. Plomer Young 227 164 Clodock Del., J. Buckler 228 167 Clun Photo, F. H Crossley 235 164 Goring do. Henry Taunt 226 165 Hartfield F. Frith & Co. 201 164 Hayes Mills' History of the Parish of Hayes 200 164, 165 Heston do. J. Drayton Wyatt, Anastatic Drawing Society Spring Gardens' Sketch Book 213 214 164, 165 Isleham do. do. Drawing after J. Buckler do. do. do. do. 223 224 225 167 Lenham do. do. Photo, Aymer Vallance Spring Gardens' Sketch Book do. do. 220 221 222 165, 167 Llandrillo-yn-Rhos Photo, F. Frith & Co. 233 168 Llanfillo do. 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 do. Instrumenta Ecclesiastica do. do. 208 209 166 Tal-y Llyn Photo, Sir B. Stone 232 168 West Wickham do. Thomas Garratt, Transactions of St Paul's Ecclesiological Society, Vol. II. Spring Gardens' Sketch Book 211 212 167 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. [xvii] [xviii] I 2. WOLVERHAMPTON DANES' CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD MONOLITH TYPE 3. BEWCASTLE, CUMBERLAND MONOLITH TYPE 4. WATER PERRY, OXFORDSHIRE 5. STRINGSTON, SOMERSETSHIRE CHURCHYARD CROSS, WITH PLAN OLD CROSSES AND LYCHGATES I. INTRODUCTION N 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." SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE 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. 7. CHILD'S WICKHAM, GLOUCESTERSHIRE VILLAGE CROSS. SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] 8. COVENTRY, WARWICKSHIRE ELEANOR CROSS TYPE 9. BRISTOL PREACHING CROSS TYPE 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. 11. CHICHESTER THE MARKET CROSS 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. 13. MILDENHALL, SUFFOLK MARKET CROSS 14. WITNEY, OXFORDSHIRE MARKET CROSS [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] 15. BLAKEMERE, HEREFORDSHIRE SHAFT-ON-STEPS TYPE, WITH NICHE 16. GREAT MALVERN, WORCESTERSHIRE CROSS, WITH NICHE, IN THE PRIORY CHURCHYARD 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. 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 [14] [15] 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." 19. CHARLTON MACKEREL, SOMERSETSHIRE [16] [17] [18] CHURCHYARD CROSS 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. 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 [19] [20] 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. [21] [22]