<< Our Photo Pages >> Bewcastle Cross - Ancient Cross in England in Cumbria
Submitted by nicoladidsbury on Sunday, 28 March 2004 Page Views: 31644
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: Bewcastle CrossCountry: England County: Cumbria Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Town: Carlisle Nearest Village: Bewcastle
Map Ref: NY5653574550 Landranger Map Number: 86
Latitude: 55.063511N Longitude: 2.682071W
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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Anne T visited on 11th Oct 2014 - their rating: Cond: 3 Access: 5 Bewcastle Cross. Fourth visit, 22nd August 2015. We first came here back in 1992/1993 not long after we'd moved to Dumfries. Funny, as from dim and distant memory both my husband and I remembered this (falsely) as being the Ruthwell Cross. After having taken a photo of our 3 children gathered round the foot of the cross in the mist and drizzle, for the last couple of years I'd wanted to recreate this photograph, so for my **th birthday, the family (complete with next generation) gathered. The skies were still murky and grey although the cross doesn't appear to have changed one bit.
After taking a photo of the children as they are now, we gathered to whole family, complete with next generation, taking photos with the remote shutter control.
The museum display has improved a lot since our visit in 2014, and I came prepared with printed sheets from the Anglo Saxon Corpus but didn't find any of the Saxon grave covers in their inventory, although there was one on display, very simply carved, which was labelled as being from the 8th to 11th century.
11th October 2014: Third visit. We last came here on 15th August 2013, but I was really quite ill (a bug, not a hangover!) and had to find a quiet corner of the churchyard, so I don’t remember very much of the visit to the church. I do remember walking around the castle with the farmer and his wife gardening nearby so I felt like a trespasser.
Today, as we reached St. Cuthbert’s church, the sun came out and highlighted the cross and many of the carvings showed clearly, especially the worn and weathered runes on the eastern face.
The exhibition has been improved since our visit, with displays about the runes and their meanings and a new painting of what the cross might have looked like when it was first erected.
There were less fragments in the exhibition outbuilding than I remembered.
nicoladidsbury have visited here
Each of the four sides of the monument is profusely sculptured: but the west side is the most interesting to the archæologist, as it contains a long inscription in runic characters, the interpretation of which reveals the origin of the column. It is thus read (substituting Roman letters for the runic) by the Rev. Mr. Maughan: + THISSIG BEACN THUN SETTON HWAETRED WAETHGAR ALWFWOLTHU AFT ALCFRITHU EAN KYNIING EAC OSWIUING + GEBID HEO SINNA SAWHULA, that is "This slender pillar Hwætred, Wæthgar, and Alwfwold set up in memory of Alefrid, a king and son of Oswy. Pray for them, their sins, their souls." The reader will observe that nearly all the above words (the proper names excepted) are still in use, though slightly altered, in modern English. Thissig has become this; beacn, a sign or token, is now beacon: thun is thin; setton, set; aft, is the root of after; ean is ane or yan, still used in the northern counties for one; kyniing has become king; gebid, the syllable ge is simply an expletive, and bid, to ask or pray, is still so used in "bidding to funerals"; sinna is now sins; and sawhula, souls, the vulgar pronunciation of which (sawl) is not far removed from the Anglo-Saxon. It is from this webpage It says Alefrid ruled just before 670ad."
Bewcastle is in the bleak lonely landscape to the north of Hadrian's Wall. Now no more than a farm, church and rectory lying within the walls of a Roman fort, yet Bewcastle has this wonderful early cross. The cross head has been lost, but the shaft depicts carvings of Christian significance. You can still see Viking runes cut into the shaft and there is reference to Kynnniburga, the wife of King Aldfrith who reigned in Northumbria from 685 to 704. Located a long way from anywhere at NY 565746 on an unclassified road from the B6318 off the A69 Nearest town is Carlisle.
For more information see Pastscape Monument No. 12965 and Historic England List ID 1015728, which covers the Roman fort, high cross shaft and Bew Castle medieval shell keep castle. The Journal of Antiquities also includes an entry for the Bewcastle Cross, Bewcastle, Cumbria, which includes photographs, directions for finding the church, cross, fort & castle, plus a list of reference sources for more information
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