Details

The monument includes a medieval wayside cross, known as the Polrode Cross,
situated to the east of the church in St Kew churchyard in north Cornwall.
The Polrode Cross survives as a round, `wheel' head set on a rectangular
section shaft and modern base. The granite head measures 0.56m wide, and the
principal faces are orientated east-west. Both faces bear a relief equal
limbed cross with splayed ends to the limbs, and a small, shallow,
indentation in the centre of the cross motif. There is a narrow bead around
the edge of each face. The head has been fractured across the top, and the
north side of the head has been fractured to straighten it in line with the
shaft. The north edge of the head on the west face has been chamfered. The
granite shaft measures 2.68m high, and is 0.43m wide and 0.33m thick. All four
corners of the shaft have a narrow bead which begins at the base of the bead
around the head and terminates 0.17m above the cross-base, suggesting that the
lower 0.17m of the shaft was originally buried. There is a fracture across the
shaft 1.72m above the base, joined by a cement repair. The bead on the north
side of the upper section of the shaft on the west face has been replaced by a
chamfer, as has the bead on the north edge of the lower section of the shaft
on the east face. The rectangular granite base measures 0.82m north-south by
0.61m east-west and is 0.08m high. The shaft is cemented into the base.
The upper section of the Polrode Cross was recorded by the historian Langdon
in 1896 in use as part of a footbridge across a stream at Polrode Mill. The
head had been reshaped so that it would lie flat against another stone.
Polrode Mill was approximately 3.75km to the north east of St Kew, in the
valley of the River Allen, close to the route of the modern A39T. The course
of the A39T follows the major medieval route into Cornwall beside the north
coast, through the River Allen valley and on to the important medieval
crossing point of the River Camel at Wadebridge. Around 1908 this section of
the cross was removed to the churchyard at St Kew. Some years later the lower
section of the shaft was found at Higher Polrode Farmhouse in use as a jamb of
the kitchen fireplace. Around 1926 the two sections were reunited and
re-erected on a modern base in their present location in St Kew churchyard.

The grave with its headstone and kerb surround to the west of the cross, and
the concrete surface of the footpath to the north, south and east, where they
fall within the protective margin of the cross are excluded from the
scheduling, but the ground beneath is included.

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 Polrode Cross has survived substantially intact despite the fracture
across the shaft and the reshaping of the head. It is a good example of a
wheel-headed cross with carefully executed decoration. It may have acted as a
waymarker on the important route through the River Allen valley, or possibly
marked a crossing point over the river at Polrode Mill. Its reuse as part of a
bridge, and the reuse of the lower shaft as part of a fireplace, its removal
to the churchyard and re-erection there in the early 20th century, illustrate
the changing attitudes to religion and their impact on the local landscape
which have prevailed since the Reformation.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Langdon, A G, Old Cornish Crosses, (1896)
Langdon, A G, Stone Crosses of North Cornwall, (1992)
Other
Consulted 1995, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 17927,
Title: 1": 1 mile Ordnance Survey Map; sheet 30; Camelford
Source Date: 1865
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

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

Source: Historic England