Details

The monument includes a medieval wayside cross-head situated to the east of
the church at Gwinear in west Cornwall.
The cross-head, which is listed Grade II, is visible as a round or `wheel'
head, 0.52m across, with the principal faces orientated east-west. The east
face bears an equal limbed cross set within a foliate shaped bead. The west
face is plain; the sides slope inwards to form a point at the centre of this
face. The upper shaft is buried in the ground.
The gothic style of the foliate bead around the outer edge of the head
suggests that this cross-head is a late example of a wayside cross.
The two gravestones to the north west of the cross-head and the gravel surface
of the footpath to the west, where they fall within the cross's protective
margin, are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground these features
beneath is included.

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 cross has survived well despite the loss of its shaft and base. It is a
rare example of a wheel headed cross decorated with a gothic style motif. Its
erection in the churchyard at Gwinear demonstrates well the changing attitudes
to religion and their impact on the local landscape since the medieval period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Rowe, L, Granite Crosses of West Cornwall
Other
Title: 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Map; SW 33/43/part 53; Pathfinder 1364
Source Date: 1989
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England