The majority of surviving crosses are found in churchyards and thus would be included in this category; 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, often 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 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 surviving.
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. It seems clear, therefore, that churchyard crosses are accessories to parish churches and their precursors.
Churchyard crosses will have formed stations for processional routes 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 and their siting may have been influenced by the main church entrance, or they may have been sited on a line with the chancel arch of the church. But many have been moved and it is difficult to deduce convincing reasons for their locations.
An interesting description of penance at a Market Cross appears below:
