Scheduled Monument record MDR3905 - Cross, St Lawrence's Churchyard, Eyam

Cross, St Lawrence's Churchyard, Eyam, of 9th century date. 'In Eyam churchyard stands the finest of the Derbyshire crosses. It is 8ft 3ins high and 20ins by 15ins in section at the bottom, tapering slightly, and the arms of its head are 3ft 3ins across. The upper portion of the shaft is missing and also a small piece from the bottom. The eastern face is covered with vine-scroll. Within a circular panel at the intersection of the arms is an angel, and angels are also carved on each arm. On the western side there are interlace panels and figure sculpture. The cross-head is ornamented with angels similar to those on the eastern side. Anglian, 8th century.' (2) 'Tradition says that the cross was found on one of the neighbouring moors, at a crossing of the Manchester and Sheffield old road, and was removed to the churchyard by the Rev. Thomas Seward who died in 1790.' (3) 'About 2ft of the top of the shaft is missing. The sexton in 1818 remembers it lying about in the churchyard and then being broken up by villagers. About 30 years earlier, Howard (prison reformer) had found the head lying in a corner and it was then put back on the (incomplete) shaft.' (4) Scheduled. (6) See GP's AO/65/95/7 & 8. (7) 'An eighth century or probably early 9th century Anglian cross, the finest in Derbyshire, stands in Eyam churchyard.' (8) 'SK 21 76 PARISH OF EYAM, CHURCH STREET 6/28 (North Side) 9-9-51 Churchyard cross, 6 metres E of Church Porch (formerly listed as Eyam Saxon cross) GV I Cross. Early C9. Stone. Square stone base with tapering shaft, topped by Celtic cross. East face of shaft decorated with foliage scrolls, north and south faces with interlace. West side of shaft has circular interlace to base with two figurative scenes over, the Virgin and Christ above, below angel with trumpet. Over, head of cross decorated with carved angels in panels. Section of shaft missing at top, otherwise cross is unusually complete. The Cross is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument.' (9) Photographic record. (10-11) 'This monument comprises of a shaft and crosshead. Since the two pieces do not match together (the upper part of the shaft appears to be missing) they are better considered as two separated pieces although, since they are both of the same school and are of similar dimensions, they are likely to be from the same cross. Neither can be described as 'Celtic', however.' (12) 'Site monitoring was been carried out in 2012 and the site appears not to be under threat.' (13) A digital copy of a drawing of the cross at Eyam, made by General Pitt-Rivers, was sent to the HER via the Pitt Rivers Museum. It was drawn in 1883/4 when he was first Inspector of Ancient Monuments. It is from a newly-discovered album of images donated to the museum by the Pitt-Rivers family. (14) From the National Heritage List for England (for the Listed Building): 'SK 21 76 PARISH OF EYAM CHURCH STREET 6/28 (North Side) 29-9-51 Churchyard cross, 6 metres E of Church Porch (formerly GV I listed as Eyam Saxon cross) Cross. Early C9. Stone. Square stone base with tapering shaft, topped by Celtic cross. East face of shaft decorated with foliage scrolls, north and south faces with interlace. West side of shaft has circular interlace to base with two figurative scenes over, the Virgin and Christ above, below angel with trumpet. Over, head of cross decorated with carved angels in panels. Section of shaft missing at top, otherwise cross is unusually completes. The Cross is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Listing NGR: SK2178276400.' (15) From the National Heritage List for England (for the Scheduled Monument): 'Reasons for Designation High crosses, frequently heavily decorated, were erected in a variety of locations in the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries AD. They are found throughout northern England with a few examples further south. Surviving examples are of carved stone but it is known that decorated timber crosses were also used for similar purposes and some stone crosses display evidence of carpentry techniques in their creation and adornment, attesting to this tradition. High crosses have shafts supporting carved cross heads which may be either free-armed or infilled with a 'wheel' or disc. They may be set within dressed or rough stone bases called socles. The cross heads were frequently small, the broad cross shaft being the main feature of the cross. High crosses served a variety of functions, some being associated with established churches and monasteries and playing a role in religious services, some acting as cenotaphs or marking burial places, and others marking routes or boundaries and acting as meeting places for local communities. Decoration of high crosses divides into four main types: plant scrolls, plaiting and interlace, birds and animals and, lastly, figural representation which is the rarest category and often takes the form of religious iconography. The carved ornamentation was often painted in a variety of colours though traces of these pigments now survive only rarely. The earliest high crosses were created and erected by the native population, probably under the direction of the Church, but later examples were often commissioned by secular patrons and reflect the art styles and mythology of Viking settlers. Several distinct regional groupings and types of high cross have been identified, some being the product of single schools of craftsmen. There are fewer than 50 high crosses surviving in England and this is likely to represent only a small proportion of those originally erected. Some were defaced or destroyed during bouts of iconoclasm during the 16th and 17th centuries. Others fell out of use and were taken down and reused in new building works. They provide important insights into art traditions and changing art styles during the early medieval period, into religious beliefs during the same era and into the impact of the Scandinavian settlement of the north of England. All well-preserved examples are identified as nationally important. The cross in St Laurence's churchyard, although not complete, is a very fine example of an early high cross with an intact cross head and extremely well-preserved plant, figural and interlace decoration. Details The monument is located in the south east area of St Laurence's churchyard and is a Grade I Listed Anglian high cross dating probably to the eighth century AD. It includes a tapering rectangular shaft surmounted by a free-armed cross head and is mortared into a pillow-shaped gritstone base or socle which is of a much later date. The angles of both the shaft and cross head are edged with flat-band mouldings which create panels for the raised decoration covering all the faces of both cross head and shaft. Both typical and rarer forms of adornment are represented and, on the shaft, include plant scrolls and leaves on its east face, interlace patterns on its south and north faces and more interlace on the lower half of its west face. On the upper half of the west face are figural carvings enclosed in two panels by roll moulding. The uppermost contains a depiction of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus on her lap with one hand raised in blessing. The lower contains a second figure holding what appears to be a swaddled baby in its arms. This may also be a representation of the Virgin and Child though the adult figure appears to be male. The cross head, which is intact, has rounded spandrels and squared terminals. Both faces have a decorated circular panel at the centre defined by roll moulding. Every flat surface of the cross head is decorated with figural carvings except for the side panels of the upper arm which contain interlace. All the figures are angels carrying objects which appear to be trumpets though this is not entirely clear. No accurate measurements are available but the cross head is approximately 75cm high and broad while the shaft is currently c.1.75m tall. However, the abrupt truncation of the decoration at the base of the shaft indicates that part of the original visible height is hidden inside the later socle while the loss of the Virgin's head from the carving on the west side indicates that part of the upper portion of the shaft is missing. This is supported by the fact that the cross head is out of proportion with the shaft and it is likely that the shaft was originally at least 2m tall. The cross's iconographic adornment and its location in a churchyard suggests that it played a role in the church liturgy during the Anglo-Saxon period. Excluded from the scheduling are the graves contained in the area of the scheduling and the chain fence round the cross, although the ground underneath these features is included. MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation. Legacy The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system. Legacy System number:23343 Legacy System:RSM Sources Books and journals The Victoria History of the County of Derby: Volume I, (1905), 287 Cox, Reverend J C, The Churches of Derbyshire, (1877), 195-6 Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Derbyshire, (1953), 136 Rhodes, E, Peak Scenery (part 1)57 Tudor, T L, The High Peak to Sherwood71-2 Routh, T E, 'Derbyshire Archaeological Journal' in A Corpus Of Pre-Conquest Carved Stones In Derbyshire, , Vol. 58, (1937), 29-31.' (16)