<< Our Photo Pages >> Great Urswick Cross - Ancient Cross in England in Cumbria
Submitted by nicoladidsbury on Thursday, 05 May 2005 Page Views: 14415
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: Great Urswick CrossCountry: England County: Cumbria Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Town: Ulverston Nearest Village: Great Urswick
Map Ref: SD26867422
Latitude: 54.158559N Longitude: 3.121544W
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 23rd Jun 2015 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 Great Urswick/The Tunwini Cross, Great Urswick, Cumbria: Turning right off the A590 just south of Ulverston/Swarthmoor, along a road signposted only to ‘Urswick’, we headed off on narrow little lanes, just as the sun broke through the clouds. The village of Great Urswick is built round two sides of Urswick Tarn. The church can be found on the left/western side of the tarn, almost at the southern end of the village. A small car park allows visitors to draw up to the gate, where a footpath and stile runs off through the churchyard around the southern side of the tarn. Whilst the church itself is surrounded by trees, walking past the church to the southern boundary of the churchyard gives superb views over to Birkrigg Common.
Inside the church was pretty spooky, as the darkness seemed to suck all the light out. We found the light switches but none worked (must have been on a timer or master switch), so we were left to look around by the light of the few lamps that had been left on at the west end of the church.
Entering the church through the south porch, the Great Urswick/Tunwini Cross is on the first window sill on the south aisle, and is impressive in size. The church guide makes reference to two crosses; we were unable to find another fragment, although there was a drawing of another Viking cross with a knot design on the wall behind the font. The Furness Blog Spot, which I found this morning, tells me that this fragment is not on display in the church, but then doesn’t say where it is housed.
Going through the door to the belfry, we were immediately struck by the thickness of the walls, which was apparently a pele tower used to protect inhabitants and animals in time of war/marauders. In the chancel there are also some fantastic choir stall end carvings, all with cherubs playing different musical instruments.
At the entrance to the south porch there are clear marks on the eastern side where arrows have been sharpened, together with the remains of an old cow chain (the vicar used to apparently have grazing rights in the churchyard, although sheep are kept there now) and the barely visible remains of a mass hour dial on the western side of the porch.
rldixon nicoladidsbury have visited here
Ancient Cross at St Mary and Michael's Church, Great Urswick.
The stone was found on the site by a turn-of-the-century vicar and was investigated on the site by the respected historian WG Collingwood, who believed that it was a fragment of a Northumbrian cross dated at the earliest to 850 AD. However Steve Dickinson, a Barrow born archaeologist, believes that the parish church rune stone holds the key to a fascinating 1600 year-old story that reveals the origins of Christianity in Britain.
The stone was revealed when the church was under-going restoration. It had been used as a lintel over one of the windows.
It is beautifully carved, with a panel of runic writing, and a carving of two figures at the bottom. Within these two panels lies a mystery, and the intriguing glimpse of our past, when the Roman Church strived to over-come the Celtic Church.
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130m WSW 237° The Priapus Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SD26757415)
621m WNW 288° Great Urswick Burial Chamber* Burial Chamber or Dolmen (SD26277442)
866m W 261° Urswick Stone Walls* Ancient Village or Settlement (SD260741)
1.0km NNE 31° Great Urswick Fort* Hillfort (SD274751)
1.3km NNE 24° Great Urswick Long Barrow* Long Barrow (SD27427540)
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