| Parish/District | Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard’s Leap/ North Kesteven |
| Location | In a tarmacked area at the centre of a road junction south west of the parish church |
| Category | Village Cross |
| National Grid Ref | TF 03230 49937 |
| Designation | Scheduled / Listed |
| Stone type | Original Cross Base is limestone |
| Refs | Davies, 1913, Lincs N & Q vol 12; AP Survey 23 Nov 1993 |
| Visits | AP: 23 Nov 1993 | DS/HH: 10 May 2006 |
There are remains of a Saxon cross shaft in the church – See Everson & Stocker here
Cranwell village cross now forms the dreary equivalent of a traffic island in the centre of Cranwell village. The site was clearly once the village green with the village pond and pump nearby, visible on early photographs and OS maps.
Of the cross, only the socket stone is original. There is a photograph showing the cross before restoration (1906) with a tiny stump of shaft in situ. A newspaper report of 1912 records the restoration work by architect Charles Hodgson Fowler, the work carried out by Woods of Alford. But the drawing on the report does not accurately record Cranwell cross.
The socket-stone is a worn limestone block approximately 0.9m square and 0.7m high. Each corner is moulded and chamfered so that the top of the stone is roughly octagonal in section. The north western and north eastern corners include the remains of carved decoration. The base of the stone is unworked and clearly was not intended to be seen in its original setting. As restored it is mounted on three modern steps – in its original setting it would have been set into the surrounding masonry. The result makes the whole structure look somewhat unstable and, indeed, there is a newspaper report of 1948 noting that the cross had been blown down. The monument’s setting as a traffic island also leads to damage and Hilary photographed it following a collision in February 1991 (see photo).
Set into the centre of the socket-stone is the restored shaft, 0.3m square in section at the base. The lowest portion ( c. 8cm) may be a representation of the stump of shaft surviving before restoration – It chamfers to octagonal and rises to modern knop and cross head – the whole almost 4m high. The shaft is composed of sections of different stone (limestone and sandstone) and this may represent different phases pf repair and replacement after restoration.
Photograph (left) showing the cross prior to restoration in 1912. A small fragment of shaft survives. Below is the newspaper report of the restoration. – (but the drawing is not very accurate)
Cranwell Cross today is more of a traffic island, with frequent collisions and damage – HH’s photo shows damage in February 1991
The shaft, knop and head of Cranwell cross are all modern but composed of different stones – possibly dues to ongoing repairs and replacements? – The newspaper report is from January 1948
