Addlethorpe

Parish/District	Addlethorpe/East Lindsey
Location	Addlethorpe churchyard about 9 m south of SE corner of the nave
Category	Churchyard cross
National Grid Ref	TF 5510 6908
Designation	Scheduled / Listed II
Stone Type	Limestone – fine grained Jurassic oolite – probably Ancaster
Refs	AP Survey 14/6/1995; Davies, D. S., 1915, Lincs N & Q, vol XIII No. 5., p. 129; Oldfield, E., 1829, A Topographical and Historical Account of Wainfleet and the Wapentake of Candleshoe, p. 107
Visits	AP: 14 June 1995 | DS/HH: 29 May 2005 | DS/DAS: 10 Apr 2015

Cross in the churchyard of St Nicholas’s church, Addlethorpe.  Located about 9 metres south of the SE corner of the nave-aisle it is believed to stand in or near its original position. Although the chancel has gone at Addlethorpe (1720ish) the cross is roughly on the line where the chancel arch woulr have been.

The cross base has two steps supporting a square socket stone with a chamfered top edge. The steps are loose and have been partially reassembled, with pieces of brick and stone inserted in the core to stabilise it.

A fragment of shaft about one metre high, survives in situ fastened into the socket stone with lead. It is square at its base, rising with broach stops to a tapering octagonal form. The top of the surviving shaft is not smashed but cut level. It has the remains of four fixing holes (3 still containing lead) and a central rebate. The pattern suggests a sundial plate mounting.

In his ‘Topographical and Historical Account of Wainfleet’ (1829, p.107) Oldfield comments that ‘In the church yard is a very ancient stone cross having a shaft for a dial.’ This is repeated by other commentators (Allen 18xx, Davies 1915) but it is not clear what is meant, unless he is confusing Addlethorpe with nearby Ingoldmells, where the cross base has been adapted to a sundial using the shaft as the gnomen.

In 1915, Davies reported ‘The cross consists of two steps which are in need of repairs’ and this remains true 100 years later.