<< Our Photo Pages >> Whissonsett wheel-head cross - Ancient Cross in England in Norfolk
Submitted by willowman1 on Sunday, 05 July 2020 Page Views: 2072
Medieval (High and Late)Site Name: Whissonsett wheel-head crossCountry: England County: Norfolk Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Village: Whissonsett
Map Ref: TF91922334
Latitude: 52.773531N Longitude: 0.843691E
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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External Links:
Within St. Mary's church is the only complete top of a late Saxon wheel-head cross found thus far in Norfolk. It sits in a niche in the nave wall, on the south side of the chancel arch, and has been dated stylistically to the early 11th century. Part of the shaft has survived with it, 27cm wide, while the head is 43cm across. The overall height is 62cm, but was a little taller when first found. A broken bottom edge was chiselled off flat so that it could be displayed upright.
It was discovered in 1900 on the north side of the churchyard when a grave was being dug, although it was several years before it was examined by experts. Made of Barnack limestone, it's said to be of rather crude design, with a fairly simple interlace pattern carved onto both faces. It seems likely to have been a grave-marker not much more than a metre high, on a simple block base.
Further details of this and more than 300 other Norfolk crosses can be found in 'A Survey of Medieval (and earlier) Freestanding Crosses in Norfolk' now live on my website 'Hidden East Anglia' (www.hiddenea.com.) A version of the whole Survey is also available there as a free pdf download.
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