Preaching Crosses

It is the opinion of many that early Christian standing crosses (particularly ‘high crosses’) were the focus for prayer and worship and hence might be termed ‘preaching crosses’. The use of the term has spread informally such that many churchyard and village crosses have been called preaching crosses – some church leaflets mentioning a churchyard cross will suggest that the ‘preaching cross’ pre-dated the building of the church and was thus the earliest religious structure on the site – even though architecturally, it is clearly later than the earliest origins of the church building.

However, it cannot be doubted that standing crosses BECAME sites for preaching even if that was not the first intention of their builders. From the thirteenth century, the mendicant orders (the friars in all their variations) had a mission to preach . . . and particularly to preach against whatever the current heresy might happen to be. For this task, they chose a central gathering place where they knew that they might get a large (and hopefully appreciative/generous) audience. That place was often the market cross or village cross. ^{(but see Blackfriar’s Cross below)}

St Paul’s Cross, outside St Paul’s cathedral in London, must rank as one of the most famous ‘preaching crosses’ in the land. It was already established as a place of proclamation by the thirteenth century and was in regular use for religious preaching from the fourteenth century. The cross was demolished in the 1630s, but its position is marked in the paving outside St Paul’s.

A second interesting case is the Hereford Preaching Cross which was built in the cemetery to the west of the Dominican friary (Blackfriars) during the mid to late 14^th century. It appears to have been specifically built (or maybe rebuilt?) as a ‘pulpit’ for preaching, rather than a re-use of a pre-existing standing cross. Its presence in the cemetery of the friary reminds us of the importance of preaching as a lucrative enterprise for the friars. It is said (by HE) to be the only remaining example of a friars’ preaching cross in England.

The cross was restored/rebuilt in 1864, but several engravings and paintings of its pre-restoration form survive. Best known is that by J. M. W. Turner, who painted it c.1793, showing a stump of shaft rising from a traceried arcade with angle buttresses, all set on a six-sided base with four steps. There are many engravings of the cross before restoration, with John Coney’s perhaps being among the more accurate renditions.

The restoration of 1864 was carried out by Gilbert Scott and was not universally appreciated:  Watkins* comments that it was “restored” ‘about 1864 by Sir Gilbert Scott, who added a far too long shaft, and closed up the entrance for the preacher.’ As modern photographs show, this gives the effect of making it seem more a ‘monument’ than a practical outdoor pulpit.

* Watkins, Alfred, 1930, The Old Standing Crosses of Herefordshire, London, p.45.

In later years new evangelists – notably John Wesley – took to similar local preaching places – Amongst the many market and villages crosses from which Wesley preached was the one in his home town of Epworth – a brass plaque on the remains of Epworth market cross records the association.

Thus, while the term ‘preaching cross’ is valid as a function – it is rarely valid as an origin and, therefore, from our point of view should not be used as a category or type of standing cross.

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