Restored cross at Mareham le Fen
Parish/DistrictMareham le Fen/East Lindsey
Locationc. 5m south east of the south porch of St Helen’s Church
CategoryChurchyard cross (restored)
National Grid RefTF 27838 61250
DesignationScheduled / Listed II
Stone TypeLimestone
RefsAP Survey 8 March 1994; Davies, D S,1915, Lincs N & Q, vol XIII No.6, pp. 166-167
VisitsAP 8 Mar 1994 | DS/HH: 30 Jan 2001

A restored (1904) medieval cross in the churchyard of St Helen’s Church, 5m south of the south door.

Nattes drew the church in 1790 and included the unrestored cross – which appears to be in the same location.

The square socket stone of the cross (0.86m square by 0.52m high) is fashioned from a single limestone block  and has moulded and chamfered corners rising to an octagonal top. An inscription on the western face of the socket stone: To the glory of God | restored by | Thomas Wright | A.D.1904 records the restoration.

Set into the socket stone is a stone shaft, approximately square in section (0.39 x 0.40m) at the base with chamfered corners tapering upwards in octagonal section. The lower part of the shaft is 1.18m high and represents the remains of the original medieval shaft. The head of the cross is integral with the upper part of the shaft and takes the form of a gabled lantern (or tabernacle) containing figural scenes under canopies, surmounted by an equal-armed cross. The head and the upper part of the shaft date from the 1904 restoration which was carried out in the workshops of Westminster Abbey. The full height of the cross is approximately 3.3m.

Detail from Nattes 1790 drawing of the church, showing the unrestored cross (c) Lincolnshire Archives
Restored churchyard cross at Mareham le Fen (photo AP)
Mareham le Fen – the base and the lower (1.2m) part of the shaft are medieval
Newspaper report (Horncastle News 9 July 1904) of the restoration of Mareham le Fen cross
Mareham le Fen

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