Pre-Norman Stone Crosses in the British Isles

St. Oswald's Church in Guiseley is a church which dates from the early years of the twentieth century in its present form, though its history goes back to the time of Henry II. The inclusion in the benefice of Esholt, whose landscape is known to many from the television series, "Emmerdale" has almost as long a pedigree as the church itself. An Anglian cross-shaft stands near the font inside the church, pointing to Christian observances in this area that go back well before the foundation of the Norman church building. One of the church gates (illustrated below, right) reinforces the church's dedication to Oswald, whom it describes as "Soldier, King, Martyr". Whilst Guiseley is indeed within the borders of Oswald's Northumbria, it is unlikely there is any direct connection between this location and its patron Saint.

The cross shaft at Guiseley is just over a metre in height. There are carvings on all of the faces, though in each case, the lower part of the shaft is plain. The end of one of the cross arms has been mounted on top of the shaft, though not in its original orientation, with the fact that it seems to fit so well creating a surreal mis-impression of how the cross originally looked. As is the case with a significant number of these monuments, there are traces of colouring on the carved panels.

The carved panel on the front of the cross depicts intertwining snakes, but this, and the carving on the other faces (see below) seems to have been executed by a less-skilled sculptor than some of the other carved crossed in Wharfedale. Certainly, the relief is much shallower than is usual in these parts.

(All pictures taken Dec 2000)

When the cross-head fragment is turned to its correct orientation, the carving seems to have a greater depth to it. Additionally, the beast carved on this piece is different from the much more naive carvings on the face of the cross.

These differences suggest that this piece could easily have originally belonged to a different cross.

Like many old churches, St. Oswald's Guiseley displays a mediaeval stone sarcophagus in its graveyard.

There are many locations in Wharfedale with pre-Norman remains. Most of them are on or near the course of the A65,
which one can thus surmise is an ancient route of communication.
Clicking on the relevant cross(es) above should take you to the appropriate page at this website
(assuming that the page has been prepared).

Stone Coffins or Sarcophagi

Bakewell

Coffins

Askham Richard

Sarcophagi

Bakewell, Guiseley, Whalley

Burial customs have changed over the years. Over the past couple of centuries, it has become increasingly common for human remains to be cremated. Going back even further, towards the middle ages, the custom was for the bodies to be buried in the ground outside (or rarely inside) churches. Prior to that, the custom was to use charnel houses, which were buildings in which the bodies were allowed to decay until only the bones were left; after a suitable period, these bones would be collected and buried (sometimes in a case called an ossuary).

A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi, derived from Greek words meaning "flesh eater") is a coffin-shaped receptacle into which a corpse would be laid in a charnel house. Typically, there would be a hole in the bottom of the sarcophagus, in order to allow the escape of fluids arising from the process of decay, so that when the bones were collected after some months had passed, they would be dry. Charnel house sarcophagi would be used over and over again. (Such sarcophagi are, to all intents and purposes, not datable with any precision. They are only included in this website if they are present at the sites visited for other reasons.)

A stone coffin is different, being intended as the final resting place for a body. Often these were lead-lined, and usually, they were not reused. It seems safe to assume, given the expense of their manufacture, that only very distinguished individuals would end up in stone coffins. The lead lining often presents problems for archaeologists who excavate them in modern times: In some cases, the lead lining has been welded together, creating an airtight container. In such cases, those who open them up are at risk of encountering contents which are at their best unpleasant and at their worst potentially hazardous.

* 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: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 11:55
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