Details

The monument includes a medieval wayside cross, known as the Fraddon Cross,
situated to the south of the church in St Enoder churchyard in central
Cornwall.
The Fraddon Cross survives as an upright granite shaft with a round, `wheel'
head, standing to a height of 0.99m. The principal faces are orientated
north-south. The head measures 0.53m high by 0.48m wide and is 0.18m thick.
Both principal faces are decorated: the north face bears an equal limbed cross
formed by four triangular sinkings in the areas between the limbs; the
south face bears a sunken equal limbed cross, with the areas between the limbs
left in relief. This cross has a marked inclination to the right. At the neck
are two rounded projections which extend 0.03m to either side of the shaft.
The shaft measures 0.59m high by 0.37m wide and is 0.16m thick.
The Fraddon Cross is located to the west of the south entrance into the
churchyard. This cross was found buried head down by the road from St Enoder
to Fraddon with its base stone standing beside it. In 1879 the cross was
relocated to the north side of the churchyard at St Enoder. Its base stone may
be the base stone built into the church porch. In 1893 the cross was
re-erected in its present position on the south side of the churchyard. The
grave with its headstone to the south west of the cross and the gravel surface
of the footpath passing to the east, where they lie within the protective
margin of the cross, are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath
is included.
This 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 Fraddon Cross has survived well, and is a good example of a wheel-headed
cross. It acted as a way marker on a route from St Enoder to Fraddon. The
removal and re-erection of the cross in the churchyard at St Enoder in the
19th century demonstrates well changing attitudes to religion that have
prevailed since the medieval period and the impact of those changes on the
local landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Langdon, A, Stone Crosses in Mid Cornwall, (1994)
Langdon, A G, Old Cornish Crosses, (1896)
Other
Consulted 1995, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 22258,
Title: 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Map; SW 85/95; Pathfinder 1353
Source Date: 1983
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England