Rolleston-on-Dove

(Staffordshire)

OS Grid Ref: SK 23560 27725
52º50’47.42”N 1º39’05.89”W

Saint Mary's Church in Rolleston-on-Dove in Staffordshire has a well-kept graveyard with a host of interesting monuments in various styles. One of these monuments bears a famous name - Oswald Mosley (though it should be pointed out that it is not that Oswald Mosley, but rather his father). The Mosley monument is in the form of a wheel-head cross, and has been in place since 1928. It faces, some forty metres or so across the churchyard, another cross of similar design that is much older.


The Cross at Rolleston-on-Dove, September 2000

Rolleston is jus a couple of miles north of Burton-on-Trent, but in relation to monuments from the Saxon period it is much more significant that less than five miles west of Rolleston, across the confluence of rivers Trent and Dove, stands  Repton, which was the seat of the Saxon Kingdom of Mercia until the Danes overwhelmed it in the year 874.

The Rolleston Cross, September 2000

The cross stands on a modern plinth, and gives the appearance of being complete, but it is possible that originally it was taller, and what remains today is merely the top of it. The wheel-head is complete, though bearing signs of a repair where the top-left quadrant was damaged in the past. Though the edges are still quite pronounced, almost all of the decorative carvings on the cross have been worn away over time, leaving virtually nothing on the front or back except for the boss in the centre of the wheel-head. More remains on the sides of the shaft and the circumference of the wheel-head, where vestiges of plaits can be discerned when the light falls across the surface. The plinth and the cross are covered in algae, a situation encouraged by proximity to the church tower, from which the resident pigeons maintain a regular supply of fertiliser. 

The remains of the cross at Prestbury in Cheshire are fairly similar in dimension to the Rolleston cross, and may provide a hint as to what the decoration on this cross may have looked like when the carving was fresh, though arguably there are more differences than similarities between the two crosses.


St. Mary's Church has adopted the cross as its logo, and uses it on church notices.

There is a web site with more information about St. Mary's Church. Click here to visit it. (Link verified October 2002)


St. Mary's Church, Rolleston-on-Dove, September 2000


St. Mary's Church is in fairly central in Rolleston.
The Dove in this area marks the county boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

Related locations
The sites detailed below are places where one can find related artefacts.

In some cases, these artefacts are from the same cultural period(s)/group(s) as in this location; in others, these artefacts are of the same or related form(s).

 

Anglian or Saxon sites


Bakewell

Aberford, Addingham (Wharfedale), Ashbourne, Bakewell, Bradbourne, Brailsford, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Cheadle, Checkley, Cleulow, Escomb, Eyam, Gressingham, Guiseley, Hartshead Moor, Hope (Derbyshire), Hornby, Hovingham, Iken, Ilam, Ilkley, Leek, Melling, Otley, Prestbury, Rastrick, Rolleston-on-Dove, Rothley, Sandbach, Stapleford (Nottinghamshire), Taddington, Thornton Watlass, Urswick, Whaley Bridge, Whalley, Winwick, Wirksworth

 

 

* 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 12:22

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