Details

The monument includes a wayside cross situated beside an old path from Predannack Wartha to Trenane. The cross survives as a decorated wheel-headed cross with a shaft set into a socket stone. The cross measures 1.6m high with a 0.6m diameter head which is decorated on both faces with a Latin cross in relief and incised lines down the shaft. The cross remains in-situ, although it fell down. It was re-erected and secured with metal wedges in 1852.

Sources: HER:-
PastScape Monument No:-425223

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 re-erected, the wayside cross 240m north west of Higher Predannack Farm survives well and remains in its original location marking a track. It will retain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its erection, longevity, religious significance, periods of turbulence and overall landscape context.

Source: Historic England