Winthorpe’s churchyard cross was restored as a war memorial and dedicated on 9 May 1920
Parish/DistrictSkegness/East Lindsey
Locationc.5.5m south east of the south porch of St Mary’s church
CategoryChurchyard cross (restored as War Memorial in 1920)
National Grid RefTF 55906 65832
DesignationScheduled / mentioned in church listing
Stone TypeLimestone
RefsAP Survey 14 Mar 1995; Oldfield, E., 1829, A topographical and historical account of Wainfleet etc, p.285 & p.289; Davies, D S, 1915, ‘Lincolnshire Notes & Queries‘ in Ancient Stone Crosses in Lindsey and Holland Divisions of Lincs, Vol XIII No.8 pp. 226-227; Credland, M, 2014, The First World War Memorials of Lincolnshire, p. 195;
VisitsAP: 14 Mar 1995 | DS/HH: NV

Edmund Oldfield, writing in 1829, shows an engraving of Winthorpe church (p. 285) which shows the cross stump and comments: ‘In the church yard is an ancient stone cross raised on three steps, the pedestal of which supports a dial.’ By which he means a sundial has been fitted to the top of the shaft stump. Archdeacon Bonney, visiting in 1847 (p.184) also notes: ‘Stump of a cross on the S. side of Ch. yard. Ch. yard ample and fenced with a ditch and post and rail.’  Davies recorded the cross in 1915 and states: ‘The base … is bevelled at the top and has a shield on each side …The shaft is carved for about 9 in. at the bottom’. He does not mention the sundial. Early postcard photographs of Winthorpe, St Mary’s, show the cross stump near the church porch.

In 1919, in the wake of the Great War, Winthorpe residents decided to restore the medieval cross as their village war memorial. A new cross shaft and crucifix cross-head were produced and the whole structure was repaired/reconstructed. Two bronze plaques were mounted on the socket stone to record the work: one plaque bears the text: THIS CROSS WAS RESTORED IN MEMORY OF WINTHORPE MEN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES 1914 – 1920; the other lists the five names of the fallen. The memorial was unveiled at a service held on 9 May 1920.

Some fault or failure must have occurred in the join between the old shaft and the new, for local newspapers reported that the Winthorpe’s war memorial had been blown down ‘and broken into several pieces’  in the great Skegness gale of 11 January 1928. It is not clear when it was repaired, but it is interesting to note that when the church was listed in 1976, the listing includes ‘Broken stone cross’.

In 1910 a carved stone, thought to be the head of the cross, was found in the moat of a nearby farmhouse and is now stored in the church. It has the Virgin and child on one face and a crucified Christ on the other (see photos below). This stone is almost certainly the head of a standing cross, but whether from Winthorpe churchyard cross, or some other local cross, cannot be verified. The stone is c.0.37m tall and 0.42m wide – its terminals are broken but it is otherwise largely intact.

Winthorpe cross/war memorial comprises three steps, a socket stone, the cross shaft (part modern) and a modern cross head. The steps are square in plan and are respectively 2.3m, 1.7m and 1.2m square. The socket stone is a stone block c.0.7m square and 0.37m high with a chamfered upper edge. There is a quatrefoil design carved on each face.

The lower 0.93m of the shaft is medieval. It is rectangular (0.3 x 0.28m at the base) stopped to a tapering octagonal form. The lowest 0.16m of the shaft has the eroded remains of ornamental carving (possibly a fleur-de-lys design). The restored shaft was presumably in one piece when fitted, but is now in at least two parts with the modern knop and head attached.

An engraving of Winthorpe church in Oldfield’s ‘Wainfleet’ (1829), shows a cross on steps in the churchyard (right) – the artist may even be trying to show that it has a sundial in top of the shaft?
Early postcards of Winthorpe church show the cross stump (arrowed) near the porch

Report of Winthorpe War Memorial blown down in the great gale of 11 January 1928 (Louth Standard, 14 January 1928)

Winthorpe socket stone showing the remains of quatrefoils carved on the faces
The socket stone now has two bronze plaques recording the restoration (left) and the names of the fallen (right)
Another postcard view – post-1920 – the restored cross shaft can be seen (right of church)
Winthorpe

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