| Parish/District | Swinstead/South Kesteven |
| Location | at the junction of High Street and Creeton Road, at the centre of the village north west of the parish church |
| Category | Village cross |
| National Grid Ref | TF 01820 22490 |
| Designation | Scheduled / Listed II |
| Stone Type | Limestone |
| Refs | AP Survey 7 Dec 1993; Davies, D S, 1913, Lincs N & Q, Vol XII No.5, p.148 |
| Visits | AP: 7 Dec 1993 | DS/HH: 20 Dec 2000 |
There is a village cross at Swinstead set on a small triangular space (now a traffic island) to the north west of the parish church. It was drawn by Nattes in 1804 and he shows it grouped with the village stocks and communal well. It comprises two octagonal steps surmounted by a square plinth, socket stone and a short fragment of shaft.
The base, formed of two steps, is octagonal in plan and constructed of worn slabs of limestone resting on coursed limestone which has been restored in modern times. The lower step is c.2.5m wide and stands to a height of nearly 0.6m. The upper step is c.1.8m wide and 0.27m high.
The socket stone, which sits on the top step, is composed of two courses. The lower is a limestone plinth approximately 1.2m square in section and 0.23m high, chamfered along the upper edge and at the corners; the north, south and west sides are also moulded. The upper part is a plain slab approximately 0.9m square in section and 0.58m high with slightly chamfered upper corners.
The shaft is set into the socket stone with lead. It is rectangular in section at the base rising 1.01m through chamfered corners in slightly tapering octagonal section. The shaft terminates in a flat-topped cone, also of octagonal section. The full height of the cross is nearly 3m.
Press reports of 1959 (see below) suggest that repairs were carried out in 1959/60. The adjacent well is now covered over, but still visible, and the cross shares its space with a traditional cast-iron guidepost.
Dear David
I have just watched your extremely interesting and enjoyable zoom talk on Lincolnshire crosses. Thank you for making your knowledge of the subject available.
Our Swinstead village cross is crumbling around the base. Could you kindly advise who we could approach for funds to repair this. I am Chair of Swinstead parish Council and unfortunately we have no funds of our own for this.
Your thoughts would be much appreciated, many thanks.
Hi Liz, Glad you enjoyed the talk
As you can imagine, you are not alone in having a historic structure in need of repair! Swinstead cross is a scheduled monument (no.1009203) which is the highest level of protection/preservation available. Sadly, however, that does not give easy access to funding to repair or maintain it. The owner (the Parish Council, I expect) is responsible for its care and maintenance. However there may be grants available if it is deemed to be ‘Heritage at Risk’. But the grants would not be 100% – you might get 70% grant if you were lucky and you’d need to find the rest locally. There is info on the Historic England Website at: https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/grants/apply/
To apply for a grant, you would need to have spoken to a builder/mason capable of carrying out the works – You would need a description of the repairs he would be carrying out, how much it would cost and when you would do it. And you must not repair it without having first obtained ‘Scheduled Monument Consent’ from Historic England.
You may do well to first contact your ‘Inspector of Ancient Monuments’ who is a chap called Tim Allen and can be contacted at: tim.allen@historicengland.org.uk. Photographs of the damage/decay would be useful.
Sorry I can’t be more reassuring … scheduled monuments in public ownership are not easy
Best wishes
Dave