Details

The monument is situated 250m south east of Over Hall Farm within a partly
walled roadside enclosure. It includes the shaft and cross-head of Shepherd's
Cross, an early medieval wayside cross which is Listed Grade II.
The cross has been carved from a single piece of Millstone Grit and has a
roughly square-sectioned shaft. The eastern face of the shaft is marked with
several deep-cut linear incisions which are believed to be more recent in
date. Above the shaft is the cross-head which takes the form of a simple cross
bar, although the two arms are not complete. The full height of the cross is
1.6m.
The fence posts and the modern walling which defines the eastern side of the
enclosure in which the cross sits are excluded from the scheduling but the
ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

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.

Shepherd's Cross is a good example of an early medieval wayside cross which is
believed to stand in its original location. Limited disturbance of the area
immediately surrounding the cross indicates that archaeological deposits
relating to the monument's construction are likely to survive intact as buried
features. Its location, close to the roadside, has ensured that Shepherd's
Cross retains its function as a wayside cross, a public monument and landmark.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Guthrie, J L, (1994)

Source: Historic England