Swinstead village cross – now on a traffic island (Photo: Rex Needle)
Parish/DistrictSwinstead/South Kesteven
Locationat the junction of High Street and Creeton Road, at the centre of the village north west of the parish church
CategoryVillage cross
National Grid RefTF 01820 22490
DesignationScheduled / Listed II
Stone TypeLimestone
RefsAP Survey 7 Dec 1993; Davies, D S, 1913, Lincs N & Q, Vol XII No.5, p.148
VisitsAP: 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.

Detail from a drawing by Nattes (1804) showing Swinstead church with the cross, village stocks and communal well in the foreground (c) Lincs Archives NATTES V4 111

Early postcard (1920s?) of Swinstead village cross

The well by Swinstead cross is now covered over, but is still visible as a paved area.
Newspaper reports (Grantham Journal 20 November 1959) suggest the cross underwent significant repair at that time.
Swinstead

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