Details

The monument includes a medieval wayside cross, known as Trequite Cross,
situated on the village green at Trequite village, near St Kew in north
Cornwall.

The Trequite Cross which is Listed Grade II is visible as an upright
granite cross with a round `wheel' head, set in a modern granite base stone,
measuring 2.22m in overall height.

The cross head measures 0.39m high by 0.38m wide and 0.16m thick. Each
principal face of the head bears a relief equal-limbed cross with splayed
limbs. Slight traces of a narrow peripheral bead are visible on the south west
face. The rectangular-section shaft measures 1.39m high and is 0.28m wide by
0.22m thick at the base, tapering slightly to 0.25m wide by 0.1m thick at the
neck. The shaft has two cemented transverse fractures, one is 0.26m below the
neck, the other is 0.5m above the base. The shaft is centrally positioned and
cemented into the large, roughly-shaped, rectangular granite basestone, 0.64m
long by 0.58m wide and 0.46m high.

The Trequite Cross is situated on the northern side of the village green in
the centre of Trequite, but the pieces comprising the head and shaft were
discovered at the adjacent Trequite Farm in 1913 and 1938, built into
doorways. The pieces were reunited and re-erected in the new base stone at
the present location in December 1947. This location is at an intersection of
two routes of religious significance during the medieval period and in view of
the proximity of this important medieval junction to the site of the cross's
reuse, its present location is considered to be in the vicinity of its
original location. The deliberate slighting of wayside crosses in Cornwall was
a recurrent action during the religious upheavals of the Reformation (c.AD
1540). The east-west route passing by the cross links the village to the
parish church at St Kew to the west, while to the east it extends directly
towards Bokelly, now a farm but the site of a medieval oratory. The south
east-north west route through Trequite linked the south eastern part of the
parish and the crossing point of the River Allen at Kellygreen with the parish
church and with the important early medieval monastic site of Lanow, also now
a farm north west of Trequite. The south eastern part of this route has been
modified since the mid 19th century but its earlier course is depicted on the
first edition of the 1 inch: 1 mile Ordnance Survey map.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

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 having a more specifically religious
function, including those providing access to religious sites for parishioners
and funeral processions, or marking long-distance routes frequented on
pilgrimages.
Over 350 wayside crosses are known nationally, concentrated in south-west
England throughout Cornwall and on Dartmoor where they form the commonest type
of stone cross. A small group also occurs on the North York Moors. Relatively
few examples have been recorded elsewhere and these are generally confined to
remote moorland locations.
Outside Cornwall almost all wayside crosses take the form of a 'latin' cross,
in which the cross-head itself is shaped with the projecting arms of an
unenclosed cross. In Cornwall wayside crosses vary considerably in form and
decoration. The commonest type includes a round, or 'wheel', head on the faces
of which various forms of cross or related designs were carved in relief or
incised, the spaces between the cross arms possibly pierced. The design was
sometimes supplemented with a relief figure of Christ and the shaft might bear
decorative panels and motifs. Less common forms in Cornwall include the
'Latin' cross and, much rarer, the simple slab with a low relief cross on both
faces. Rare examples of wheel-head and slab-form crosses also occur within the
North York Moors group. Most wayside crosses have either a simple socketed
base or show no evidence for a separate base at all.
Wayside crosses contribute significantly to our understanding of medieval
religious customs and sculptural traditions and to our knowledge of medieval
routeways and settlement patterns. All wayside crosses which survive as earth-
fast monuments, except those which are extremely damaged and removed from
their original locations, are considered worthy of protection.

The Trequite Cross has survived well as a good example of a wheel-head cross.
It suffered only minor damage from its period of reuse, the fractures not
involving any material loss from the shaft. In its present location, in the
vicinity of its original location, the cross remains as a waymarker to the
parish church at St Kew, and marks a route-crossing of ecclesiastical
importance in the medieval period, demonstrating a major role of wayside
crosses. The former slighting of this cross, its reuse in a secular building
fabric and its subsequent restoration and re-erection illustrate well the
changing religious attitudes since the Reformation.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Henderson, C, The Cornish Church Guide, (1928)
Langdon, A G, Stone Crosses of North Cornwall, (1992)
Olson, L, Early Monasteries in Cornwall, (1989)
Other
AM7 scheduling documentation for CO 325, consulted 1993
consulted 1993, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 17930,
Information told to MPP fieldworker by Mr Andrew Langdon, (1993)
Title: 1": 1 mile Ordnance Survey Map; sheet 30; Camelford
Source Date: 1889
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Map; SX 07/17; Pathfinder Series 1338
Source Date: 1988
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England