There are records of TWO standing crosses at Bradley in North Lincs. Bradley (1) is the churchyard cross at St George’s church – described below. Bradley (2) is a second cross base with stump of a shaft, possibly from a village cross, recorded in the grounds of the manor house.

Parish/DistrictBradley/North East Lincs
Locationc.  6m S of nave of Saint George’s church,
CategoryChurchyard cross
National Grid RefTA 24171 06754
DesignationListed II
Stone TypeLimestone
RefsDavies, D S, 1915, Lincs Notes and Queries, vol 13, p.136
VisitsDS/HH: 7 Sept 2009

There is a really good cross at Bradley church – the shaft is complete and parts of the knop survive, but the head is absent. It is sited about 6m to the south of the nave of the church. J C Nattes drew Bradley church in 1796 – it is a sketchy drawing, but he included the cross with its shaft and knop (see below).

Archdeacon Bonney visited Bradley on 5 August 1846 and observed: ‘a perfect cross on two steps and a base on the south side of the churchyard‘, and he drew a sketch of the knop and cross-head – the latter now sadly absent.

The base is formed from three steps plus a socket stone: The outer steps measure 2.29m square and the socket stone is 0.72m (E-W) by 0.75m (N-S). The corners of the socket stone are eroded – or sculpted – with dished depressions.

The shaft is set in the socket with cement – it is chamfered with broach-stops to octagonal (low down) and measures 0.23m (E-W) by 0.26m (N-S) at the base, tapering as it rises. It seems to survive to its full height as there are parts of the octagonal crenellated knop still present. The shaft measures 2.15m to the base of the knop. The knop is repaired with lead. The overall height of the surviving cross is c. 3m.

Detail from J C Nattes drawing of Bradley church of 1796, showing the standing cross (c) Lincolnshire Archives
Bradley (1)

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