<< County Introductions >> Subject Guides No.3 - Crosses and Early Christian Sculptured Stones
Submitted by Thorgrim on Thursday, 16 September 2004 Page Views: 11418
Early MedievalType: Ancient CrossInternal Links:
The earliest and most primitive, are the incised cross-decorated stones of Cornwall, Wales, Galloway and the Isle of Man. They blend elements of Romano-British paganism with "Celtic" Christianity and date from the fifth and sixth centuries. They are also found more widely in Scotland and Ireland from the seventh century. Then came the eighth and ninth century Pictish cross-slabs of Scotland and those of Ireland and the Isle of Man which are stylistically similar. By the ninth century and into tenth, crosses were larger and much more ornate with strong pagan influence from Anglo-Saxon and Viking art. This can be seen most dramatically at Gosforth where Odin, Thor and Loki share the cross shaft with the crucifixion of Christ.
High crosses were erected in the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries, mainly in the north of England with a few further south. Some are "wheel-headed" and others are "free-armed". Some were used for religious services and others to indicate boundaries such as those at Macclesfield, which mark the northern boundary of the Kingdom of Mercia. There are less than fifty Anglo-Saxon high crosses in England that have survived the fury of the Reformation. They also suffered from the Puritans and in eastern England, where this was strongest, only fragments have survived. Such crosses should not be confused with much later market crosses and the waymarking crosses of Dartmoor and Yorkshire.
Why are photographs of crosses appearing on the Megalithic Portal? It is true that none are prehistoric, but they are contemporary with the Pictish stones that we have included for some time. They are of course "mega liths" - big stones! But the real reason is that they are of interest to some, if not all, of our visitors and they do graphically record and reflect the conflict and integration of Paganism and Christianity as well as the influx and integration of immigrants and settlers. At present, we do not include crosses later than the Norman Conquest, but invite you to send us photos and descriptions of any earlier ones you may find. Grid references are pretty essential, but if you cannot manage that, please send the name of the cross or the nearest town, village or farm. If in doubt about age, you can send anyway, but only those that are pre-Norman will be used at present. We hope to extend the time period later.
Good hunting!
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Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
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