Details

The monument includes a medieval wayside cross, known as Tredinnick Cross,
situated by the roadside on a minor route from St Neot to Halfway House in the
River Fowey valley.
Tredinnick Cross survives as an upright granite head and shaft set on a modern
granite base. The head has unenclosed arms, a form called a `Latin' cross, its
principal faces orientated north-south. The overall height of the monument is
1.88m. The head measures 0.51m across the side arms, and is 0.17m thick. Both
principal faces bear a relief Latin cross, the lower limb extending down the
length of the shaft. On the south face an incised Latin cross has been carved
on the relief cross motif. The shaft measures 0.31m wide by 0.19m thick. A
hole on the east side of the shaft is evidence of its former reuse as a
gatepost. The cross has been fractured below the side arms, and the shaft is
cemented into a modern base, a roughly triangular slab of granite, measuring
1.55m east-west by 1.05m north-south, and 0.14m high. There is a small metal
plaque on the base recording the discovery and re-erection of the cross. It
reads `This ancient cross was discovered buried on this site in 1958. Restored
and re-erected by Mr L.J.Rowe and Mr J.W.P.Coggin on behalf of the Liskeard
Old Cornwall Society in 1960'.
Tredinnick Cross was found in 1958 by Mr Rowe when widening a gateway; the
head had been built into a hedge and the shaft had been reused as a gatepost.
The original location of the cross is not known but was probably close to its
present position as the fields around the cross were named Cross Park in the
Tithe Apportionment Map of 1842. It has been suggested that the cross dates to
the early 15th century, and may have been associated with the manor at Luna,
750m north of its present location.

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.

Tredinnick Cross has survived well, despite its former reuse as a gatepost,
and is a good example of the uncommon `Latin' cross type. Although this cross
is not in precisely its original location, it remains close by and still
maintains its original function as a waymarker, demonstrating well the role of
wayside crosses in the medieval landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Langdon, A G, Stone Crosses in East Cornwall, (1996)
Other
Consulted June 1997, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN No. 17157,
Title: 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Map; SX 06/16; Pathfinder Series 1347
Source Date: 1989
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England