Details

Th3 monument includes a wayside cross, situated to the north east side of a tributary of the River Ottery, marking a footpath between Youlstone and Trewonnard. The cross survives as a decorated wheel-head on a length of rectangular section shaft. It stands to a height of approximately 1.1m. The head is decorated on both faces with an equal-armed cross in relief. When described by Langdon in 1896, it was being used as a footbridge across the stream which forms the parish boundary between Warbstow and Treneglos. By the 1920's it was used as an abutment to a timber footbridge. It was re-erected by the St Ives Old Cornwall Society in 1958.

Sources: HER:-
PastScape Monument No:-434040

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. Despite having been used as both a footbridge, the wayside cross 110m SSW of Youlstone survives comparatively well. Although some of the carving on one face is more worn because of its use as a footbridge this forms part of its unique history.

Source: Historic England