Details

The monument is a late medieval or early post-medieval wayside cross and
includes the socle or socket stone of the cross and the remains of the shaft.
The upper portion of the shaft, which would have included an integral cross
head, is now missing, possibly due to religious iconoclasm in the 16th or 17th
century.
The socle comprises a dressed gritstone block measuring approximately 1m x
90cm at the base and 48cm high. The top edge and upper corners of the socle
are chamfered but the socle is otherwise undecorated. The gritstone shaft,
which is currently mortared into the socket hole, is of tapering rectangular
section with chamfered corners and is decorated at its base with narrow
pyramidal stops on each corner. The shaft measures 40cm x 20cm at the base and
survives to a height of 95cm. Originally, it would have been approximately 2m
tall.
The shaft is undecorated but includes several examples of 18th or 19th century
graffiti. Towards the top on the south west face is an incised `T'. On the
south east face are the possible beginnings of another `T' though this, in
fact, may be the result of weathering. Near the base on the south east face
are the initials `HA' while, close to the top on the north east face, are the
poorly inscribed initials `GWP'. Lastly, on the north west face, roughly 30cm
from the base, is an inverted cross.
The cross is orientated north east to south west, parallel with Hartcliff
Road. It lies approximately 30m south of the modern road yet appears to be in
its original location. This suggests that the line of the road has changed and
that the cross marks its earlier route. As the road originated as a packhorse
route across open moorland, the change probably dates to the enclosure of the
moor in c.1800. The cross is Listed Grade II.

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 within 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 Hartcliff Road cross is a well preserved and visually impressive example
of a wayside cross which is still in its original location and is associated
with an ancient roadway.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Hill, Angela Shackleton, (1994)
South Yorkshire SMR: PI 332, Wayside Cross, Hartcliff Road,

Source: Historic England