| Parish/District | Tattershall/East Lindsey |
| Location | in the yard south of the Wayside Café |
| Category | uncategorised, but a socket stone large enough for a Market cross |
| National Grid Ref | TF 21218 57851 |
| Designation | None |
| Stone Type | Limestone |
| Refs | – |
| Visits | DS: 9 June 2026 |
This previously unknown cross base was discovered by chance when a group of Lincolnshire industrial archaeologists (the Old Codgers) chose to hold their monthly session in the Wayside Café in Tattershall Market Place. The building is multi phase (17C-20C) and is interesting, and the proprietor, Nick Ranshaw, showed us round. In the yard/garden to the south of the building he showed us a ‘large rock’ which was in fact a large, relocated socket stone, origin unknown. He reported it was there when he purchased the property a few years ago.
The stone is limestone and measures 0.83 x 0.82m by 0.6m high. There is a socket cut in its centre which is 0.25 x 0.27m and this is filled with the stump of a shaft of the same type of stone. The shaft is set in lead. The stump is much worn/eroded with a maximum of only 2.5cm above the level of the base. An iron pin has been driven into its centre.
The corners of the stone have been worked into chamfers with rounded knobs so that the top surface of the stone is octagonal./ The top edges were possibly once slightly chamfered but this may just be wear and erosion. There is much erosion but no decoration or marking visible on any surface – it is possible the knobs at the corners were once faces or symbols of some sort, but this is unlikely.
So … where on earth has this cross base come from? The first thought was that it might be an earlier base for the Tattershall market cross (just outside the building), but on inspection and reflection, the base of the Tattershall cross looks sturdily medieval and original. So this is not likely.
The stone must weigh over a ton, so it has not been moved far and certainly not moved with ease. Could it possibly be the lost Coningsby village cross of which Davies notes: ‘The base of an old cross is to be seen in a public house yard at the east end of the village. The stone is a large plain block and rather rough, but it deserves more prominent position than given to it at present.’
Before Wayside Cottage was a café, it was an antique shop for many years – maybe this explains how the stone came to rest in its back yard – but is it from Coningsby ?
