Details

The monument includes a medieval wayside cross situated to the south of the
church in St Bartholomew's churchyard on the southern edge of Bodmin Moor in
south east Cornwall.
The wayside cross survives as an upright granite shaft with a round, `wheel'
head, standing to an overall height of 1.52m. The principal faces are
orientated north-south. The head measures 0.44m high by 0.56m wide and is
0.19m thick. Both principal faces bear a relief Latin cross, the lower limb
extending down on to the shaft. On the south face the upper limb has been
fractured and is missing. On the north face the cross motif has been badly
mutilated; most of the upper limb and one of the side limbs remain. A hole,
0.04m in diameter, has been pierced right through the head, through the
upper limb of the cross motif. The north face bears another hole, 0.04m in
diameter and 0.12m deep on the lower west side. The shaft measures 1.08m high
by 0.37m wide and is 0.22m thick at the base widening slightly to 0.26m at
the top. Both principal faces are decorated with the extended lower limb of
the cross motif, which terminates in an expanded foot. On the north face near
the base of the shaft is a 0.05m diameter hole, 0.08m deep, and on the west
face are two more holes: one is 0.05m in diameter and 0.06m deep, the other is
0.04m in diameter and 0.08m deep. These holes are the result of the former
reuse of the cross as a gatepost.
This wayside cross is located immediately to the south of St Bartholomew's
Church. Its original site is not recorded but it was in use as a gatepost at
Carburrow, near Treveddoe, 1.5km north of St Bartholomew's churchyard. The
cross was removed to the churchyard and re-erected in its present position in
1858.
The concrete gutter to the east and north of the cross and the metalled
surface of the footpath passing to the south and west, where they lie within
the protective margin of the cross are excluded from the scheduling, although
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.

This wayside cross in St Bartholomew's churchyard has survived reasonably
well, and is a good example of a wheel-headed cross. Its former reuse as a
gatepost, and its re-erection in the churchyard in the 19th century
demonstrate well the changing attitudes to religion and their impact on the
local landscape since the medieval period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Langdon, A G, Old Cornish Crosses, (1896)
Other
Consulted 1995, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1597,
Title: 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Map; SX 06/16
Source Date: 1989
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England