Stapleford Cross is an Anglo-Saxon

high cross A high cross or standing cross (, , ) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval tradition in Ireland and Britain of raising large sculpted stone crosses, usually outdoors. Th ...

dating from the eleventh century, now located in the churchyard of St. Helen's Church, Stapleford, in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, and also a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

Importance

The cross was said by Pevsner to be "by far the most important pre-

Conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

monument in Notts". According to its

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

list entry:

Description

Shape

The remains of the cross today consist of a 2.5m high square stone shaft, tapering from 0.5m square at the base to 0.25m at the top. The lower portion has rounded edges, whilst the top part is more square section, which makes this cross one of the

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

n round-shaft family.

Decoration

The shaft is heavily decorated with various forms of interlace, divided into four sections. The third section also displays a winged figure, armed with a spear and presumed to be an

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...

, or

Luke the Evangelist Luke the Evangelist was one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical gospels. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Prominent figu ...

. (See External link for photo of carved figure.) According to

Kendrick Kendrick may refer to: *Kendrick (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Places United States *Kendrick, Florida *Kendrick, Idaho *Kendrick, Oklahoma Schools *Kendrick School, in Reading, Berkshire, England, United King ...

, this dense interlacing is distinctly Mercian in character. It shows similarities to the densely carved

Wolverhampton Pillar The Wolverhampton Pillar is the shaft of an Anglo-Saxon High cross, dating from the ninth or tenth centuries AD. The scheduled monument is still standing in its original location, in what is now the churchyard of St Peter's Collegiate Church ...

, and the fine interlacing to be seen on the Brunswick Casket and the Witham Pins. On the other hand, Hill sees a stylistic connection with the

Bewcastle Cross The Bewcastle Cross is an Anglo-Saxon cross which is still in its original position within the churchyard of St Cuthbert's church at Bewcastle, in the English county of Cumbria. The cross, which probably dates from the 7th or early 8th centu ...

in Cumbria, and Byzantine influences.

Mounting

The cross is now mounted on a nineteenth-century

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

, and is topped by cap and modern ball in place of the original cross-head which was lost in the eighteenth century.

Origins

Date

The date of the cross in unclear. English Heritage describe it as eleventh-century in one of two listings, but in its other listing they suggest that high crosses of this type are likely to be eighth, ninth or tenth century. Rev. A.D. Hill suggested (in 1906) a date between 680 and 780 AD, from the ornamentation style and circumstances of the times. This is the date range quoted on the information panel displayed at the site.Photo of information panel
posted by Lenton Sands on flickr.com Pevsner says that the date may be as late as c.1050.

Original location

The original position of the cross in unknown, but it is likely to have been nearby.

Historical record

The first records of the monument date from the eighteenth century. Before 1760, the cross was lying on its side in the churchyard, around which time the cross-head was removed. With the head, the cross would have been around 3.5m high. In 1760, the cross was re-erected at the junction of Church Street and Church Lane, immediately south east of the churchyard. In 1820, it was installed on a new base at the same location, and topped with a stone cap and ball (''pictured''). In 1916, the top ball was damaged in a storm.
/ref> In 1928, the cross together with the 1820 plinth and cap was moved from the street location to the churchyard, where it now stands. In 2000, a new stone ball replaced the one damaged in 1916.

Other

The cross may be the origin of the name 'Stapleford' which means a crossing near a post.

References

External links

*

* ttp://farm3.staticflickr.com/2325/1524132768_c94760c0a2_z.jpg Photo of information board at the site
Detail of carved figure (on flickr.com)
{{High cross High crosses in England Monumental crosses in England Scheduled monuments in Nottinghamshire Anglo-Saxon art