There are several items of interest for cross seekers at Whaplode – most importantly, the Elloe Stone, which is on the border between Whaplode and Moulton parishes. It is said to mark the meeting place of the Court of Elloe wapentake. The Elloe Stone is the upper part of a wheel cross, probably dating from the 10th to 11th century, which was re-erected in a stone block in 1911. A full description and discussion of it can be found in the Corpus, HERE.
In addition, there are fragments of Anglo Saxon grave covers inside Whaplode church, described in the Corpus, HERE. AND for this gazetteer, there is a cross, which may, or may not, be a churchyard cross . . .
| Parish/District | Whaplode/South Holland |
| Location | in a flower bed c.15m to the NE of the chancel of St Mary’s church |
| Category | Churchyard cross (or village/market cross?) |
| National Grid Ref | TF 32383 24032 |
| Designation | Scheduled / Listed II |
| Stone Type | Limestone |
| Refs | AP Survey 24 Mar 1994; Davies, D S, 1915, ‘Lincolnshire Notes & Queries‘ in Ancient Stone Crosses in Lindsey and Holland Divisions of Lincs, , Vol. XIII no8, p. 226 |
| Visits | AP: 24 March 1994 DS/HH: 20 Dec 2005 |
Whaplode has an interesting cross, situated in the churchyard of St Mary’s. It is shown on Nattes’s drawing of the church of c.1800 and certainly seems to be within the churchyard at that time – but it is in a very odd position which does not relate to the church in the way that churchyard crosses usually do – i.e. sited close to the main entrance or former main entrance. That said, Whaplode church does have a most unusual layout with a tower to the south of the chancel, and west and south doorways.
Whaplode was an important medieval Fenland trading centre and held a market charter from 1255. It seems quite possible that the remains of the cross are in their original location, but that this formed part of the village green or market place in the medieval period. So maybe it is really a village cross or market cross, not relocated as such, but later subsumed into the churchyard.
It is interesting that Davies did not record this cross in 1915, although he did describe a fragment of octagonal cross shaft 1.32m long and 0.3m across that was, and still is, inside the church.
The cross comprises a socket stone and a portion of shaft, set in a small flower bed in an otherwise largely cleared graveyard – historic postcards show that this area, now empty but for the cross, was once packed with gravestones.
The socket stone is c.0.88m square with chamfered upper corners and a groove running below the upper edge. It stands to a maximum height of 0.23m above ground level.
The shaft fragment is rectangular (0.3m x 0.34m) and set into the centre of the socket stone with corners chamfered above broach stops to form a tapering octagonal shaft 0.99m tall. The top of the shaft fragment is flat and is partly broken away on the north-east side; it includes a number of holes containing the remains of iron pins in lead for a repair or possibly a sundial fixing. The piece of shaft inside the church is of similar dimension and may have been part of the original cross.
