
Parish/District | Bottesford/North Lincs |
Location | 5 metres south of south porch of St Peter’s church |
Category | Churchyard cross |
National Grid Ref | SE 89941 07006 |
Designation | Listed II |
Stone Type | Not known |
Refs | Davies, D S, 1915, Lincs Notes & Queries, Vol 13, pp. 135-136; N Lincs HER |
Visits | DS/HH: 4 June 2008 |
There is a cross head set in a socket stone c. 5m south of the door of St Peter’s church at Bottesford in North Lincolnshire. The socket stone is square and is completely undecorated – it is so plain that it’s hard to imagine that it was a medieval cross base . . . was it perhaps made in the 19C in order to display a rediscovered cross head? (The listing suggests the cross is 13C reset in the 18C).
The cross shaft is rectangular and chamfered and widens into a disc with the cross formed by carving away the stone (on both sides) to form a small wheel-headed cross head – in a Maltese cross shape. It is damaged at the top – about a quarter of the cross head is lost. The whole thing stands about 0.75m high from the cross base, so there is no sense that this is a complete cross, but rather a recovered cross head reset in a base. There is an interesting rectangular slot (function unknown) cut into the face below the cross. It is a nice example and it would be good to know more of its rediscovery and re-erection.
