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<< Our Photo Pages >> St Mary's Church (Walton) - Ancient Cross in England in Cumbria

Submitted by Anne T on Tuesday, 22 August 2017  Page Views: 1236

Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: St Mary's Church (Walton)
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 2.841 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Cumbria Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Town: Brampton  Nearest Village: Walton
Map Ref: NY5220864492
Latitude: 54.972738N  Longitude: 2.748128W
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
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 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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Anne T visited on 20th Aug 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 5 St. Mary's, Walton: Went to see a cross head, but found an 11th century market cross instead! This is a very pretty little village, and was on our way back to Stapleton to try to find the Bride’s Well (ran out of time last Thursday). We parked opposite the church on the side of the village green and walked across to the church, letting ourselves in through the rather rusty gate (it took us ages to work out how to open it). I excitedly followed my husband into the church but stopped dead as there was no sign of the cross head at all. We hunted under pews, up and down the aisles, on window ledges, around the font, inside a chest, and all the places we could think of. The only sign of the cross was a photograph and a brief description on the display boards against the north western wall of the nave, which showed it displayed on top of the font cover. (I’ve since sent an email to the vicar to enquire where it might be located or moved to, but not had a reply yet). We did however, see a paragraph on the display boards headed AD850 to 1066: “During the latter part of the 9th century to the middle of the 11th century, Walton, as a community, developed. The evidence for this is shown by the relics found in or around the present church. Between the years of 850 to 950, a preaching cross was erected and similarly between 1000 and 1050, a market cross was probably erected.” There is an image of the remains of the market cross in the churchyard. We then went to find this, disappointed not to have found the cross head, but pleased there was something of antiquity to have made this detour worthwhile.

St Mary's Church (Walton)
St Mary's Church (Walton) submitted by Anne T : Standing nearer to the south western corner of the church looking back at the cross shaft. The stone is badly shattered and spalled off on this side. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient Cross in Cumbria

We went to St. Mary's in Walton because we understood there was the remains of a sandstone cross-head. This was described by Pastscape as "The greater part of a late Anglian cross-head of St Bees sandstone, 12" high and 12" in breadth, with the lower arm and part of the upper arm missing. The front bears a small boss, and both faces are ornamented with crude rustication. It was found in digging a grave in the south-west of Walton churchyard, at NY 526646, and is now in the church. Dated to the 9th-10th century." For more information see Pastscape Monument No. 12787 (for information on the church see Monument No. 12866, which is a 'related monument' on the cross head record).

The Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture dates the cross head as being 10th the 11th century - see ASCORPUS 167 Walton. Both Pastscape and The Anglo Saxon Corpus say the cross head is displayed on the font inside the church.

Despite quite an intensive search, we were unable to find the cross head (I've since sent an email to the vicar to try to locate it), but the display boards showed photographs of both the cross head and a market cross, dated to between 1000 and 1050, located not far from the west wall, by the right hand side of the path as you approach the church.

There are other old grave markers propped at various intervals around the exterior of the church walls.

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St Mary's Church (Walton)
St Mary's Church (Walton) submitted by Anne T : The cross shaft as seen walking up the path towards the west wall of the church. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Mary's Church (Walton)
St Mary's Church (Walton) submitted by Anne T : Standing on the path leading up to the church, looking south, the cross shaft leans at about a 15 degree angle. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Mary's Church (Walton)
St Mary's Church (Walton) submitted by Anne T : First view of the market cross as we came from the door in the north wall of the church, walking towards the gate opposite the village green. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Mary's Church (Walton)
St Mary's Church (Walton) submitted by Anne T : The top of the cross shaft has neatly defined socket hole. Not sure what happened to the top. The cross head recorded as being in the church is made of St. Bees sandstone, so presumably is not related to this cross shaft. (Vote or comment on this photo)

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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
NY5264 : St Mary's church, Walton by David Purchase
by David Purchase
©2017(licence)
NY5264 : Benchmark on the west face of St Mary's Church by Roger Templeman
by Roger Templeman
©2023(licence)
NY5264 : OS Cut Mark - Walton, St Mary's Church by thejackrustles
by thejackrustles
©2022(licence)
NY5264 : Location of OS Cut Mark - Walton, St Mary's Church by thejackrustles
by thejackrustles
©2022(licence)
NY5264 : St Mary's church, Walton by David Purchase
by David Purchase
©2013(licence)

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"St Mary's Church (Walton)" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Re: St Mary's Church (Walton) by Anne T on Tuesday, 22 August 2017
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I've sent an email to the vicar through the 'Contact Us' option of the 'A Church Near You' web site, asking if the cross head has been relocated anywhere, and if we might see it (hope it hasn't been stolen). Not yet had a reply, but will update this page once I do.
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