Restored churchyard cross at Little Steeping – the lichen reveals the short section of original shaft
Parish/DistrictLittle Steeping/East Lindsey
Locationc. 5m south east of the south porch of St Andrew’s Church
CategoryChurchyard cross (restored)
National Grid RefTF 43362 63544
DesignationScheduled / Listed
Stone TypeLimestone
RefsAP Survey, 19 October 1994; Davies, D S, 1915, Lincs N & Q, Vol XIII No.6, p.166
VisitsAP: 19 Oct 1994 | DS/HH:30 Jan 2001

Nattes drew Little Steeping church c.1795 and included the unrestored cross in the drawing. He shows a step/plinth, the socket stone and a stub of shaft.

Little Steeping cross was restored, as part of a wider church restoration project, in 1913. There are several newspaper reports of the reopening of the church and rededication of the cross on 24 June 1913. The plinth, socket stone and a very short section of shaft are thought to be medieval.

The plinth is approximately 1.4m square in section and is constructed of worn limestone. On it rests the socket stone, a limestone block measuring 0.9m square in section at the base rising through elaborate geometrical moulded and chamfered corners to a top of octagonal section. The shaft, which is fixed into the socket stone with lead and mortar, is c. 0.29m square in section at the base with moulded and chamfered corners tapering upwards in octagonal section. The lowest part of the shaft, to a height of c.0.24m, is medieval in date while the upper part is from the 20th century restoration.

The shaft terminates in a moulded knop and head in the form of a gabled cross; on the south side of the cross is a carved representation of the crucifixion, and on the north side a figure thought to represent a saint. The full height of the cross is approximately 3.8m.

Nattes’s drawing of Little Steeping church c.1795. The unrestored cross is visible in the foreground (c) Lincolnshire Archives
Report of the rededication of the restored church and cross – Sleaford Gazette 28 June 1913
Little Steeping cross – The plinth, socket stone, and a short section of the shaft are medieval – the rest is restored
Little Steeping

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