The majority of surviving crosses are found in churchyards and thus would be included in this category; but not all of them necessarily originated in the churchyard – some may have been re-homed from elsewhere in the village. Sometimes, there are two or three crosses (or components of crosses) in one churchyard.

Only rarely do crosses survive with their shaft and head intact. Churchyard crosses were amongst the list of idolatrous objects listed for destruction during the short reign of Edward VI (1547-53) and many cross heads were removed and destroyed in this period. Those that survived intact were under threat again during the English Civil War (1642-51). Some were hidden, sometimes buried, in hope of restoration in later years. In Lincolnshire very few intact crosses survive, the most notable being that at Somersby church near Spilsby.

Churchyard crosses are more usually represented by a socket stone with a broken portion of shaft still in place. Some are set on one or two steps, but many have just a socket stone (although investigations might be worthwhile to detect if buried steps exist below the modern ground surface). Surviving portions of shaft have often been adapted to serve as sundial bases and bear the marks of a variety of fixings on their upper faces. It is equally common for no shaft to survive in situ and for there to be only a socket stone.

It has been suggested that churchyard crosses might have been erected as the focus of worship and preaching BEFORE the church itself was constructed. However (excluding pre-conquest examples), the majority of the crosses seem to date from the 12th to 15th centuries, by which time most of the parish churches were in existence. Thus, it seems more likely that churchyard crosses are accessories to parish churches and their precursors.

There is a tradition that churchyard crosses served as a focal point for prayers and commemoration of all those that are buried there. This reflects a time when individual memorials or gravestones were not erected for the majority of common folk – only the rich would be commemorated with a grave slab – usually inside the church. When Caythorpe cross was restored in 1906 this tradition was echoed with the inscription: “In memory of many who without name rest here in God’s most holy keeping. This cross restored AD 1906.” Similarly, when the graveyard was extended at South Elkington in 1888 a standing cross was erected to consecrate the area.

Churchyard crosses are thought to have formed one of the stations for processional routes through the village and may also have been used as the focus for penance or prayers and offerings from parishioners. They are often on the south side of a church, but their siting seems to be primarily influenced by the location of the main church entrance. Their role may have been to remind parishioners of the holiness of the building they were approaching and to guide their thoughts in Godly direction.

There is also a theory that crosses may may have been intentionally sited in line with the chancel arch of the church, and occasionally this is true, however, many of them have been moved, and it is often difficult to deduce convincing reasons for their locations.

The depth of reverence with which standing cross were held should not be underestimated. Customs associated with them, which were banned in the course of Reformation, proved hard to suppress:

Other ancient customs connected with standing crosses are illustrated by the terms in which prelates of the reformed Church condemn them. Thus, Bishop Bentham’s Injunctions for the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield in 1363 forbid bearers to set “down the corpse of any dead body by any cross by the way, as they bring it to the burial”; and again, later, Archbishop Grindal’s Injunctions for the Province of York in 1571 order that none shall “rest at any cross in carrying any corpse to burying, nor shall leave any little crosses of wood there.” In 1385 the Bishop of St David’s issued an Injunction to his diocese, among the directions whereof, under the head of “Burial,” it is ordered : “ First, that there be no crosses of wood made and erected where they use to rest with the corpse ; and especially that no wooden crosses be set upon the cross in the churchyard.” These strenuous prohibitions only prove that the custom of placing wooden crosses for the dead upon wayside or church-yard crosses must have prevailed in ancient days, and was still tenaciously observed by the people in spite of the drastic change of religion. It may possibly be that the holes, sometimes found drilled in churchyard crosses, were provided, among other purposes, for holding the pegs on which the small wooden memorial crosses could be suspended.

Vallance, A., 1920, Old Crosses and Lychgates, Batsford, London, p. 21.

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