Details

The monument is the wayside cross located on the west side of Trundle Lane at
the junction with The Bank and Taining Lane. It includes the plinth, socle and
shaft of the medieval cross. Originally there would also have been a cross
head but this component is now missing.
The socle or socket stone is a dressed magnesian limestone block with a base
measurement of c.1m square and a height of 55cm. It is octagonal, with rounded
stops on alternate faces, and sits on a chamfered magnesian limestone plinth
measuring 1.1m square and 20cm high. In the top is a square socket hole into
which is leaded the bottom section of the magnesian limestone cross shaft.
This surviving section is 80cm tall and measures 30cm square for the first
60cm; then its corners taper to thin points which project a further 20cm up
the sides of the shaft which, above the square section, is octagonal. The
cross is Listed Grade II and is one of a pair in Fishlake located at either
end of the village. The second cross, located in Pinfold Lane, is the subject
of a separate scheduling. Although generally termed wayside crosses, there is
a local tradition which claims that they were preaching crosses set up to mark
places where, in the ninth century, St Cuthbert's body was set down during the
funeral procession. This theory seems to be based on the dedication of the
local Norman church to St Cuthbert.

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 part of its shaft and cross head, the wayside cross on Trundle
Lane is a well-preserved and apparently in situ example which would have
played an important role in religious festivals and other aspects of village
life during the later Middle Ages. Its importance is increased by its
relationship to a second wayside cross, located at the other end of the
village.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Morris, J E, West Riding of Yorkshire, (1932), 189
Other
Shackleton Hill, Angela, (1994)
Sketch on SMR file, PI 317, South Yorkshire Archaeological Service, (1977)

Source: Historic England