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Ancestral Geographies of the Neolithic, Edmonds, Bender

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<< Our Photo Pages >> St Mary (Thornton Watlass) - Ancient Cross in England in Yorkshire (North)

Submitted by TimPrevett on Saturday, 19 May 2007  Page Views: 4863

Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: St Mary (Thornton Watlass)
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 0.346 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Yorkshire (North) Type: Ancient Cross
 Nearest Village: Thornton Watlass
Map Ref: SE2324585265
Latitude: 54.262526N  Longitude: 1.644644W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
no data Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5
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Anne T visited on 23rd Jul 2015 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 5 Anglo Saxon Cross Heads, St Mary The Virgin (Thornton Watlass), North Yorkshire: St Mary The Virgin is 3 miles from Bedale and 11 miles from Ripon. It is grade II listed (English Heritage Building ID: 333615), dating largely from the 15th century. There are two Anglo Saxon cross heads on display in the porch, one on the east wall and one on the west. The church was firmly locked at the time of our visit although the door to the porch was left open. We parked on the small triangle of land at the cross-roads opposite. It was tricky to cross the road as the church lies in the crook of a sharp bend and traffic cannot be seen until the last minute, so cross quickly! According to the Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture by James Lang (Google books) "The cross head built into the interior east wall of the porch was first noted in 1908 by E. Bogg as being in its present position. Its height is 44.2 cms by 32.8 cms wide and 17 cms deep. Made of fine to medium-grained millstone grit, the right arm of the cross is lost and only one face is visible, and is part of a wheel-head cross with wedge-shaped arms and a ring recessed from the face. Date: first half of 10th century; The cross head in the west wall is 29.5 cms high, 48 cms wide (no depth recorded as it is built into the wall). The upper limb of the cross is lost; only one face is visible. Part of a plate-headed wheel cross, the rim raised and recessed from the face. A plain edge moulding follows the perimeter of the cross ... the lower limb of the cross has a curved incision which creates the impression at the sides of heavily stylised legs for a Crucifixion; conversely it could be the arris of a plain panel. The lateral arms are filled by hands with a wrist band and three huge fingers. In the centre of the cross is a large boss. Date: first half of the tenth century." I admit to not being able to see the crucifixion scene described by James Lang in the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture (Google books) until I rotated my photograph by 90 degrees!

St Mary (Thornton Watlass)
St Mary (Thornton Watlass) submitted by Anne T : This is the cross-head from the first half of the 10th century that is built into the west wall of the porch. From memory the cross sits at 90 degrees to this image; I didn't see the crucifixion scene until I rotated the image in Photoshop! (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient Crosses in Yorkshire (North)

Two Anglo Saxon Cross Head fragments in the porch at St Mary's, Thornton Watlass, both dating from the first half of the tenth century.

According to the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture by James Lang (available on Google Books), the cross built into the interior west wall of the porch measures 29.5 cms by 48 cms wide with the upper limb of the cross missing. "A plain edge moulding follows the perimeter of the cross ... the lower limb of the cross has a curved incision which creates the impression at the sides of heavily stylised legs for a Crucifixion; conversely it could be the arris of a plain panel. The lateral arms are filled by hands with a wrist band and three huge fingers. In the centre of the cross is a large boss."

The cross head built into the interior east wall of the wall is of "height 44.2 cms by 32.8 cms wide and 17 cms deep. Made of fine to medium-grained millstone grit, the right arm of the cross is lost and only one face is visible, and is part of a wheel-head cross with wedge-shaped arms and a ring recessed from the face."

Whilst the church is kept locked during the day, the door to the porch is left open for visitors to view these cross heads.
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St Mary (Thornton Watlass)
St Mary (Thornton Watlass) submitted by Anne T : This is the second cross head which is built into the east wall of the porch. It dates from the first half of the tenth century. (Vote or comment on this photo)

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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SE2385 : Tombs, St Mary's Church by Maigheach-gheal
by Maigheach-gheal
©2011(licence)
SE2385 : Churchyard, St Mary's Church by Maigheach-gheal
by Maigheach-gheal
©2011(licence)
SE2385 : St Mary's, Thornton Watlass by David Rogers
by David Rogers
©2009(licence)
SE2385 : St Mary's Church, Thornton Watlass by Maigheach-gheal
by Maigheach-gheal
©2011(licence)
SE2385 : St Mary's Church by Roger Templeman
by Roger Templeman
©2016(licence)

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