Pre-Norman Stone Crosses in the British Isles

As well as visiting the sites and taking the photographs, I have consulted many sources of information in compiling this web-site. Without doubt the single most useful book is:

Collingwood, William G (1927): Northumbrian Crosses of the Pre-Norman Age, London: Faber & Gwyer.
Collingwood's breadth of knowledge of Northumbrian crosses is phenomenal, and his book seeks to categorise them according to the features included in the carved designs. He sees progressions of design ideas, which, taken with what he judges to be the amount of craftsmanship employed in executing each one, he uses to place the designs in date order. This is certainly in line with the archaeological ideas prevailing in Collingwood's day; but modern analyses might not start with the same premiss. That isn't a criticism, by the way, though one might criticise the book for what it left out. For example, it's odd that this book makes no mention at all of the cross at Eyam, despite the fact that discussion of it would have rounded off chapter 8 very nicely.

Anderson, M D (1971): History and Imagery in British Churches, London: John Murray
Anderson's scope is much broader, and he is heavily dependent on Collingwood in this particular area, but nevertheless, his is a good general introduction to the subject.

Cavill, Paul (2001): Vikings - Fear and Faith, London: HarperCollins
A follow up to the earlier Anglo Saxon Christianity, this book takes the story forward, and shows how Viking Culture first clashed with and then merged with the Christian Anglo-Saxon culture that the Vikings encountered when they made their home in Northern England.

Haines, George H (1969): Discovering Crosses, Tring (Hertfordshire): Shire Publications,
This small guide in the Discovering... series skates over many issues related to dating crosses and covers mostly crosses which come well after the Norman period.

Jones, Anthea (2000): A Thousand Years of the English Parish, Moreton-in-Marsh: Windrush Press
A thoroughly well-researched history of the development of the Parish structure within the Church of England. The author presents the developments in several ways, including following the development of particular parishes from feudal times, through the reformation to the industrial age, and onwards into post-modern decline.

Pennick, Nigel (1997): The Celtic Cross - an Illustrated History and Celebration, London: Blandford
Comprehensive introduction to the subject, which provides much-needed context by considering developments on the continent of Europe and further afield as well as the British Isles. This is a hardback book, and consequently more expensive than the others, but it is a good read and has some splendid - if a bit "new agey" - drawings by the author. Coverage of the gazetteer seems patchy, perhaps having been compiled from a few of the author's own tours. One niggling, point is that, if the author drew his picture of the Nevern cross - page 103 - standing in front of the monument, then how come he made all the same mistakes in representing the ornamentation as on the commercial drawing - ironic given the author's comment on page 139 about *exactly* the same failing in someone else.

Sharkey, John (1998): Celtic High Crosses of Wales, Llanrwst (Gwynedd): Gwasg Carreg Gwalch
(Contains many fine illustrations and photographs, as well as a comprehensive coverage of the range of crosses and stone fragments to be found in Wales. However, the good work is spoiled by frequent small but sometimes nontrivial mistakes; whether responsibility lies with the author or proof-reader is moot - for example, the gazetteer frequently confuses "East of" and "West of", so in some cases, an unwary reader is being directed up to fifteen miles away from their true goal. In short, wait (and hope) for a second, corrected edition of this book.)

There are also many pamphlets, leaflets, booklets and so on to be found in the places visited. It seems to make more sense to list these by location rather than author. The majority are locally published, so the amount of publishers' data that can usefully be given is variable and often limited, and also, it is likely that the only place you can obtain some of them is at the location they describe. A lot of information has come from people met at the locations visited.

Aberford, Leeds: St. Ricarius, Aberford, a guide - Gilleghan, John (second edition, 2000)

Ashbourne, Derbyshire: The Parish Church of St. Oswald, Ashbourne - Shaw, George E and Buckley, Derek H (1991)

Cheadle, Stockport: The Parish Church of St. Mary, Cheadle, Cheshire - Chivers, G V (2000)

East Hauxwell, North Yorkshire: Hauxwell Church - Green, V H H (1977, 1981)

Ellerburn, North Yorkshire: The Church of St. Hilda Ellerburn - Clark, D (1999)

Gosforth, Cumbria: A Guide to St. Mary's Church Gosforth - McKenzie, P (2000)

Guiseley, Leeds: Welcome to St. Oswald's Guiseley Parish Church - unattributed (post-1998)

Hickling, Nottinghamshire: St. Luke's Church, Hickling, a Description (second edition) - Naismith, R (2000)

Hovingham, North Yorkshire: All Saints' Church Hovingham - Vaughan, P H (1974 - revised 4th edn 1997)

Kirby Hill, North Yorkshire: All Saints' Church Kirby Hill - unattributed (post-1974)

Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire: The Story of Kirkbymoorside with Gillamoor and Bransdal with Farndale Churches Yorkshire - no author identified (1997 edition)

Masham, North Yorkshire: St. Mary's Church Masham - unattributed (2001 or 2002)

Melling, Lancashire: Melling Church, a History and Guide (second edition) - Gibson, M (1997)

Middleton, North Yorkshire: St. Andrew's Church Middleton near Pickering - Richmond-Brown, J (2000)

Muncaster, Cumbria: A History of Muncaster Parish Church - Hodges, M K (post-1975)

Spennithorne, North Yorkshire: St. Michael's Church Spennithorne - Green, V H H (updated edition, 2001)

Wath, North Yorkshire: The Parish Church of St. Mary, Wath - West Tanfield PCC (1974)

Wensley, North Yorkshire: The Church of the Holy Trinity Wensley - unattributed (post-1970)

West Tanfield, North Yorkshire: St. Nicholas Church, West Tanfield - Newsam, B H and Dawney, F L (1974)

Dyserth etc., Denbighshire: Mwynhewch Sir Ddinbych Ganoloesol / Enjoy Medieval Denbighshire - published by Denbighshire County Council (1998)

Nevern, Pembrokeshire: The Church of St. Brynach, Nevern - unattributed (1965)

This really is
part of an
AutoRoute map!

The location maps were produced by Microsoft AutoRoute Express 2000 or Microsoft AutoRoute 2002

The approximate location of the cross is indicated by the foot of the cross symbol on the maps.

AutoRoute Express is an excellent program that has made it much easier to get to many of the places visited. However, please note the following three warnings about the maps, and one about me:

The representation shown may not include minor roads and tracks.
The fact that a route appears on the map does not indicate there is a public right of way.
AutoRoute Express 2000 has an annoying habit of mislabelling some roads - seemingly fixed in 2002, (see the example in the map on the page you reach by clicking this link). I'd call that a bug - still, it's a lot better than some similar programs I have tried.
In some cases, I may have not put the foot of the cross in exactly the right place. Nobody's perfect...

Copyright in all the mapping data and representation resides with Microsoft Corporation and their suppliers.

* The Ordnance Survey National Grid Reference (and corresponding Latitude/Longitude) given at the top of the pages describing individual sites usually refer to the location of the closest or most prominent entrance to the site where the monument is to be found - e.g. a gate into a churchyard. For monuments located in open country, or at a significant distance from the site entrance as just defined, the co-ordinates usually refer to the exact location of the monument.
Please allow for a small error in the co-ordinates of up to a couple of dozen metres.

Thanks to the people at streetmap.co.uk, if you click on the Grid References in the magenta boxes on the site pages,
you'll see an extract from the relevant Ordnance Survey 1:50000 Landranger map!

As the official mapping agency of the United Kingdom Government, the Ordnance Survey produces the definitive maps of the country. They contain a wealth of information.
For more details, visit www,ordnancesurvey.co.uk/leisure

Click here if you need an explanation of the terminology on these pages

Click here if you would like to see a bibliography

Click here if you would like to download the freeware "Mordred" font (in True-type for Windows)
so that the headings used on these pages will then look like the following:

Click to go to Pre-Norman crosses in:	England	the island of Ireland	the Isle of Man	Scotland	Wales	Read about the Saints
Click to go to Mediaeval crosses in:	England	the island of Ireland	the Isle of Man	Scotland	Wales

Locality maps at this web-site have been developed using Microsoft AutoRoute Express 2000 (and later editions).

This page is a part of Chris Tolley's web-site. Latest update: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 22:06
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