page_title: Stone crosses in Cornwall
section_title: Crosses in West hundred
hierarchical_section_title: Stone crosses in Cornwall / Crosses in West hundred
caption_attribution_description: English: Long Tom. A Christianised standing stone, near Minions on Bodmin Moor. Caradon Hill radio mast can be seen in the background.
context_page_description: Wayside crosses and Celtic inscribed stones are found in Cornwall in large numbers; the inscribed stones are thought to be earlier in date than the crosses and are a product of Celtic Christian society. It is likely that the crosses represent a development from the inscribed stones but nothing is certain about the dating of them. In the late Middle Ages it is likely that their erection was very common. Since they occur in locations of various types, e.g. by the wayside, in churchyards, and in moorlands. Those by roadsides and on moorlands were doubtless intended as rout markings. A few may have served as boundary stones, and others like the wayside shrines found in Catholic European countries. Crosses to which inscriptions have been added must have been memorial stones. According to W. G. V. Balchin "The crosses are either plain or ornamented, invariably carved in granite, and the great majority are of the wheel-headed Celtic type." Their distribution shows a greater concentration in west Cornwall and a gradual diminution further east and further north. In the extreme northeast none are found because it had been settled by West Saxons.
context_section_description: Parishes B - L
  At Boconnoc there are Cornish crosses in the churchyard, on Druids' Hill and in Boconnoc Park. The latter cross was removed here from Lanlivery and has some curious incised ornament.
  Killboy or Penventon Cross is a stone cross standing on the route of a disused path which runs from Penventon Farm to Braddock church. An account of this cross was published in The Gentleman's Magazine in 1805. The original site of the cross is uncertain.
  Two freestanding Celtic crosses of stone (illustrated Fig. h4, h5 & h5a), bearing inscriptions in Latin have been found in Cardinham; both had been embedded in the walls of the fifteenth-century church and were moved after their discovery to the churchyard. One has been dated to the fifth to eighth centuries, the other to the tenth or eleventh centuries: Arthur Langdon (1896) also records five other stone crosses in the parish. Andrew Langdon (1996) records two crosses in the churchyard, Higher Deviock Cross, Pinsla Cross at Glynn, Poundstock Cross, Treslea or Wydeyeat Cross and Treslea Down Cross.
  A cross now in the churchyard of Lansallos was mentioned by Arthur Langdon (1896) as being in a field west of the churchyard. In 1919 the rector had it erected in the churchyard.
  There are two stone crosses in the churchyard of Lanteglos-by-Fowey. One is a tall Gothic lantern cross (illustrated Fig. h6) which was found buried in a trench next to the church in 1838. It has been suggested that it was buried deliberately to prevent its destruction by Commonwealth iconoclasts. It was erected in its present position in 1841. The other cross consists of a cross head found in Pont Pill Creek. When it was moved to the churchyard the corresponding shaft was found there and a few years later c. 1910 it was restored and re-erected. A cross known as Polruan or St Saviour's Cross stands at the top of Fore Street in Polruan. The latter name comes from the former chapel of St Saviour nearby.
  Tencreek cross and Culverland cross are stone crosses in the churchyard of Liskeard; the former was found in 1903 at Tencreek Farm and was moved to the churchyard in 1908. The latter was also moved here in 1908 and is thought to have come from a site near Trevecca.
  In the churchyard of Lostwithiel is a grave of a member of the Hext family with a medieval lantern cross mounted on a modern shaft. The cross head was found in the 19th century at an unknown location and in 1882 set up in the churchyard. It was later moved to its present position.
  Parishes S - W
  Arthur Langdon (1896) recorded five Cornish crosses in the parish of St Cleer; one called Long Tom is at St Cleer Common, another is at St Cleer's Well (illustrated Fig. h7) and a cross at Trevorgy is missing. There are also two stones at Redgate of which one is the Doniert Stone and the other is known at the Other Half Stone. Another cross was discovered at East Fursnewth Farm in 1930 and afterwards removed and erected at Pendean House, Liskeard.
  A stone cross was found at Tregoad Farm in the parish of St Martin-by-Looe in 1906 built into the wall of a stable. In 1931 it was set up on a new base at Tregoad by the Looe Old Cornwall Society. In 1971 it was removed to the Guildhall Museum in East Looe for preservation. It is a rare example in east Cornwall of a cross with a carved figure of Christ, in this case incised.
  Arthur Langdon (1896) records eight Cornish crosses and two cross bases in the parish of St Neot. Four-hole Cross is located by the main Launceston to Bodmin road close to the milestone showing eight miles to Bodmin. The shaft is ornamented on all four sides. The other crosses are three in the vicarage garden, another in the village, another in the churchyard (its shaft is ornamented on all four sides with interlaced carving; illustrated Fig. h8), and others at Hilltown and Newtown. A cross at Tredinnick, found in 1958, is illustrated Fig. h9; Wenmouth Cross is illustrated Fig. h10.
  Bosent Cross (illustrated Fig. h11) in the parish of St Pinnock is a fine 14th-century cross; the cross in the rectory garden came from Towednack.
  Andrew Langdon (
caption: Fig. h2: Long Tom
exif: {}