Details

The monument is located on Bradfield Moor which is part of the north eastern
gritstone moors of the Peak District. It is a medieval wayside cross whose
remains include the socle or socket stone of the cross. Originally there would
also have been a shaft and cross head but these components are now missing.
The socle comprises a roughly dressed gritstone block measuring approximately
70cm square at the base and 70cm high. In form it consists of a truncated
pyramid with a 15cm wide vertical band at the base and possible traces of
corner stops. A narrower vertical band can also be seen round the top. This,
however, is only easily traceable on the south or leeward side as weathering
has almost obliterated it on the remaining three sides.
The monument appears to be undecorated although two parallel diagonal lines on
the east face may represent the remains of ornamentation. The large socket
hole, measuring 35cm square by 15cm deep, indicates that the missing cross
shaft would have been substantial and visible for miles around. This suggests
that the cross marked a former packhorse route across the moor though it may,
alternatively, have been a boundary cross. The loose stone currently sitting
in the socket hole does not appear to be part of the original shaft though
this has not been verified.

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.

Though missing its shaft and cross head, the socle of New Cross is reasonably
well preserved and exhibits an unusual form illustrating the diversity of this
class of monument. Its importance is enhanced by its being in its original
location.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Hill, Angela Shackleton, (1994)
South Yorkshire SMR (PI 150), Remains of New Cross, Bradfield Moor,

Source: Historic England