Details

The monument includes a medieval churchyard cross in St Uny's churchyard,
situated to the south of the church.
The churchyard cross, which is 2m high, survives as an upright granite shaft
with a round, `wheel' head which measures 0.4m high by 0.43m wide and is 0.14m
thick. The principal faces are orientated east-west. The west principal face
bears a central round raised boss and four triangular sinkings forming the
spaces between a St Andrew's cross. The east principal face also bears four
triangular sinkings arranged to form a St Andrew's cross, and a slightly
raised central round boss. The shaft measures 1.6m high by 0.41m wide at the
base tapering to 0.29m at the top and is 0.32m thick at the base tapering to
0.26m at the neck. All four corners of the shaft are chamfered.
The cross, which is Listed Grade II*, is considered to be in its original
position,and is believed to be the original churchyard cross.
The gravestone to the south east of the cross, where it falls within its
protective margin, is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground
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.

The churchyard cross, 25m south of St Uny's Church, has survived well as a
good example of a `wheel' headed cross with a rare form of decoration. As
there is no record of the cross having been moved, it is considered to be in
its original location, and still maintains its original function as a
churchyard cross.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Langdon, A G, Old Cornish Crosses, (1896)
Other
Consulted July 1996, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN No.31063,
Title: 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Map; SW 33/43/part 53; Pathfinder 1364
Source Date: 1989
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England