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Sacred Stones in Indian Civilization: with Special Reference to Megaliths

Sacred Stones in Indian Civilization: with Special Reference to Megaliths

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Whalley Crosses - Ancient Cross in England in Lancashire

Submitted by LivingRocks on Tuesday, 29 March 2005  Page Views: 9370

Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: Whalley Crosses Alternative Name: Paulinus Crosses
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 0.243 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Lancashire Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Town: Whalley
Map Ref: SD73263616
Latitude: 53.821020N  Longitude: 2.407667W
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
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 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.
5 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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rldixon visited on 1st Jan 2016 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by LivingRocks : Whalley I, All four sides of the shaft are decorated but weathering has obscured much of the detail. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient Crosses in Lancashire

The Whalley crosses are located in the churchyard to the south of St Mary's Church, Whalley, and are constructed of local sandstone. The westernmost of the three cross shafts (Whalley I) measures approximately 2.9m tall and is of rectangular cross section tapering towards the top. All four sides of the shaft have been decorated but only the eastern has survived heavy weathering; this contains six panels, three of which depict interlaced decoration and three of which depict human, bird and animal figures. The top of the shaft has been broken and now has the remains of a small mutilated Anglo-Saxon cross head, originally with expanded arms rounded at the ends.

The central cross shaft (Whalley II) measures approximately 2.2m high and is socketed into a carved square base stone or sockle. It is rectangular in cross section and tapers towards the top where it has been broken. A piece of the shaft about 0.75m in length is missing. All four sides of the shaft depict well preserved early 11th century decoration comprising foliated scrollwork. The principal ornamentation is on the east and west faces and consists of a central rounded shaft or pole rising from the apex of a gable. At the top of the shaft are the mutilated remains of the carved central boss of the cross head.

The easternmost cross shaft (Whalley III) is socketed into an oblong stone base with holes at each end of it suitable for supporting other cross shafts. It measures approximately 2.1m high and is of rectangular cross section tapering towards the top where it has been broken. All four sides of the shaft have been decorated but heavy weathering has virtually obliterated artwork on all but the western face where carved scroll work remains visible. The original cross head is missing and has been replaced by a 15th century decorated cross. (Description taken from English Heritage Record of Sheduled Monuments)

For the scheduling information see Historic England List ID 1009489 which covers all three crosses. These crosses are also listed on Pastscape, see Monument Nos. 44514 (westernmost), 153667 (Central) and 153670 (easternmost).

The Northern Antiquarian (TNA) also features a page for this site - see their entry for Whalley Crosses, Whalley, Lancashire, which gives directions for finding these crosses, together with a drawing of the site marking the crosses, drawings of the crosses, photographs, descriptions taken from 19th and 20th century reference documents, and local folklore. The Journal of Antiquities also includes an entry for The Whalley Crosses, Lancashire, which includes photographs, descriptions, details of the monuments, plus a list of reference sources for further information.
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Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by rldixon : Whalley cross II taken 16 sept 2010 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by rldixon : Whalley cross III taken 16 sept 2010 (4 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by rldixon : Whalley Cross I taken 16 sept 2010 (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by rldixon : Whalley Cross II taken 16 sept 2010 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by rldixon : Whalley cross I taken 16 sept 2010 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by rldixon : Whalley cross III taken 16 sept 2010

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by Sunny100 : Whalley Cross no III. The front face is badly worn and the opposite face is even worse. The cross-head is a late medieval Gothic replacement.

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by WindC : West face of Whalley Cross II. 4 December, 2011.

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by rldixon : Whalley cross I in Infra red 16 sept 2010 (1 comment)

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by rldixon : Whalley cross II in infra red taken 16 sept 2010

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by LivingRocks : Whalley II, The western face of the cross.

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by Sunny100 : Whalley Cross No II. This is by far the best preserved of the three crosses. On the front face it has The Tree Of Life or Tree Of Calvary carving with S-shaped vine-scrolls and zig-zag patterning.

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by LivingRocks : Whalley II, the eastern face of the coss with more well preserved artwork.

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by LivingRocks : Whalley II, Close up of the west facing side of the coss showing details of the carving.

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by LivingRocks : Whalley 1, close up of part of the surviving artwork on this cross.

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by Sunny100 : Cross-head standing against the chancel wall in St Mary's Church, Whalley, Lancashire. The church guide says this cross-head is 10th century, but it looks more recent to me, maybe 12th century? It is an interesting artifact nevertheless, in that it is perhaps a complete head, though strange because it has an 'interesting' design in the middle - obviously chalked in to show this. Pho...

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by rldixon : Whalley cross III taken in InfraRed 16 sept 2010

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by Sunny100 : Illustration of the Whalley Cross I standing at 3 metres high and dating from the 11th century. Described as an Anglo-Norse cross, it has some fascinating carved panels: a saint with hands upraised in prayer between serpents, a pelican and the Norse symbol for eternity - the 'Dog of Berser'. There is also interlacing and pattern-work. The cross-head is thought to belong to cross III and is not the...

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by Sunny100 : Illustration of The Whalley Cross III, standing at 2 metres high and dating from the 11th century. The head was lost and replaced by a 14th/15th century Gothic cross-head. On the Anglo-Norse shaft there is scrollwork, interlacing and two saintly figures together.

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by Sunny100 : A detailed illustration (by myself) of The Whalley Cross II, standing over 2 metres high and dating from the early 11th century. A part of the head has been lost. There is ornate scroll-work pattening.

Whalley Crosses
Whalley Crosses submitted by LivingRocks : Whalley III, This is the most heavily eroded of the three cross shafts.

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"Whalley Crosses" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Re: Whalley Crosses by Thorgrim on Tuesday, 29 March 2005
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Thanks LR! Excellent - we are now gathering together an impressive collection of pre-Conquest crosses. Such crosses seem to be the direct descendents of standing stones and perhaps served much the same purposes - some were preaching crosses, others boundary markers and others were waymarkers on pilgrim routes. Is that how we see standing stones - ritual, tribal boundary and way markers?
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