The cross at Toynton St Peter is directly outside the west (main) entrance to the church
Parish/DistrictToynton St Peter/East Lindsey
Locationin the churchyard of St Peter’s Church, 2.6m west of the west door
CategoryChurchyard cross
National Grid RefTF 40380 63441
DesignationScheduled / Listed II
Stone TypeLimestone
RefsAP Survey 19 Oct 1994; Davies, D S, 1915, ‘Lincolnshire Notes and Queries‘, Vol XIII No.6, p.221
VisitsAP: 19 Oct 1994 | DS/HH: 30 Jan 2001 | DS:27 Apr 2022

There is a standing cross just 2.6m from the west door of St Peter’s church at Toynton St Peter. It comprises a socket stone and a sizeable portion of cross shaft. It is a most interesting cross because the socket stone has figure carvings on its corners – but the figures appear to be upside-down  – In other words, the socket stone was in use the other way up  for something else, before it was a socket stone. Pevsner suggests it was a square font bowl, inverted and converted to form a cross base.

The stone is c.0.72m square and stands about 0.38m high – interestingly, when recorded by Davies in 1915, it was almost buried, and he does not comment on the carvings. It is now mostly surrounded by paving slabs and the decoration is clearly visible. AP recorded the figures and identified them as: north west corner – a human head dressed in a wimple with large, drooping animal ears or wings; south west corner – a winged figure, now headless; south east corner – a head and shoulders; and north east corner –  human head with a large, forked beard.

The cross shaft is set into the socket stone centrally, with lead, and is rectangular in section at the base (0.33m N-S by 0.28m E-W); the corners are moulded and chamfered to taper upwards in octagonal section to a height of 1.38m.

At the top of the stone are the remains of lead stubs where a later fixing (a sundial?) has been made.

Toynton St Peter – detail of the SE corner carving – the figures are inverted

Detail of two of the figures, shown right-way-up – SE corner (left) Head and shoulders with arms held up and NE corner (below) Man with forked beard

Toynton St Peter

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