| Parish/District | Waddingworth/East Lindsey |
| Location | in the churchyard of St Margaret’s church |
| Category | Churchyard cross |
| National Grid Ref | TF 1851 7121 (approx) |
| Designation | None |
| Stone Type | Limestone |
| Refs | Davies, D S, 1915, Lincolnshire Notes & Queries, Vol XIII No.6, p.221 |
| Visits | AP: NV| DS/HH: NV |
Here is a cross base which has escaped designation and that none of us have seen – except for Richard Croft who photographed it in 2014. It is in the churchyard of St Margaret’s church – now in private ownership – a fact which dissuaded both AP and DS/HH from visiting at the time, although current owners are (reportedly) happy to allow access.
Davies visited (pre 1915) and recorded a ‘tithe stone’ similar to that he recoded at Bucknall. He believed it was a socket stone turned upside-down for use as a gathering place for the paying of tithes.
A newspaper report of 4 April 1914 (mainly concerning the reopening of the restored church) notes:’ . . . in the churchyard was unearthed a large stone, with a socket hole, therein, and this is believed to have been the base of a churchyard cross. Methods have been taken to preserve it from the attacks of frost; it is an interesting feature which existed in many churchyards in England in medieval times.’.
What it unclear is whether the socket stone discovered during the renovations was buried upside down to preserve it from frost and recorded thus by Davies . . . or whether he had surveyed the churchyard before the discovery and recorded the so called ‘tithe stone’.
But the stone is now right-way-up and visible (see photo above) and awaits a surveyor with a tape measure!
