<< 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 CrossesCountry: 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:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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rldixon visited on 1st Jan 2016 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
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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