Details

The monument includes a wayside cross, situated in the garden of Higher Lank Farm, and used as a garden ornament. The cross survives as a decorated wheel-head on a very short section of shaft, set into a rockery with other architectural fragments. It stands to a height of approximately 0.5m and the head is decorated on both sides with a Maltese cross in relief within beading around the periphery. Its original location and early history is not known. It is first recorded as being built into the gable wall of the farmhouse in about 1815, before being moved at least twice around the garden. It was recorded by Langdon in 1896.

The cross is Listed Grade II (67471).

Sources: HER:-
PastScape Monument No:-431554

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Wayside crosses are one of several types of Christian cross erected during the medieval period, mostly from the 9th to 15th centuries AD. In addition to serving the function of reiterating and reinforcing the Christian faith amongst those who passed the cross and of reassuring the traveller, wayside crosses often fulfilled a role as waymarkers, especially in difficult and otherwise unmarked terrain. The crosses might be on regularly used routes linking ordinary settlements or on routes which might have a more specifically religious function, including providing access to religious sites for parishioners and funeral processions. Wayside crosses vary considerably in form and decoration but several regional types have been identified. The Cornish wayside crosses form one such group. The commonest type includes a round, or `wheel', head on the faces of which various forms of cross were carved. The design was sometimes supplemented with a relief figure of Christ. Less common forms include the `Latin' cross, where the cross-head itself is shaped within the arms of an unenclosed cross and, much rarer, the simple slab with a low-relief cross on both faces. Over 400 crosses of all types are recorded in Cornwall. Wayside crosses contribute significantly to our understanding of medieval routeways, settlement patterns and the development of sculptural traditions and their survival is somewhat differential because of periods of religious turbulence during the Reformation when many were subject to damage or partial destruction by iconoclasts. The wayside cross in the grounds of Higher Lank Farm 10m south of the farmhouse survives relatively well, despite being moved, and retains much of its original decoration.

Source: Historic England