Thurlby churchyard cross – at the west end of the church under a glorious cedar tree
Parish/DistrictThurlby/North Kesteven
Locationin the churchyard of St Germain’s Church, approximately 13m west of the tower
CategoryChurchyard cross
National Grid RefSK 90866 61712
DesignationScheduled
Stone TypeLimestone
RefsAP Survey 15 Dec 1993; Davies, D S, 1913, ‘Lincolnshire Notes and Queries’ in Ancient Stone Crosses in Kesteven, , Vol. XII no.5, p.149
VisitsAP: 15 Dec 1993 | DS/HH: 24 Aug 2012

There are remains of a standing cross in the churchyard of St Germain’s church at Thurlby, located c.13m west of the tower. The setting is under a fabulous cedar tree although, sadly, this has become storm damaged in recent years. The cross comprises a ‘plinth’, a single step, a socket stone and a portion of cross shaft.

The plinth is c. 0.97m square and up to 0.07m high; it is chamfered up to the step, which is about 0.92m square and 0.3m high with slightly chamfered upper corners.

The socket stone sits on the step – a substantial block, measuring c.0.68m square at the base and 0.5m high, with chamfered upper edges.

The shaft fragment is of plain rectangular section (0.28m E-W by 0.32m N-S) with a roughly shaped top, and a maximum height of 0.56m. The northern face is inscribed with the date ‘1842’. This date is presumed to represent a restoration but no records of this have yet been located. There is evidence of spalling due to frost damage on the shaft. The full height of the cross is approximately 1.43m.

Thurlby cross is in an ‘odd’ position if it is in its original location as it does not relate to any of the current entrances to the building – There was a fairly comprehensive rebuild of the structure (on its original foundations) in 1820 and it has an ancient (c.1200) south doorway which is the main access . . . although the route into the churchyard is from the west.

Thurlby churchyard cross – plain and robust
Thurlby churchyard cross – the date 1842 is inscribed on the shaft – presumably a restoration, but no report of such has been found
Thurlby

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *