More information : [SJ 9545 2372 Stone Cross (NR) (Remains of) (1)
"...About the year 1803, a very antique stone cross,
which once stood before the gate of a ruined mansion in South
Wales, was transported hither and erected on TIXALL HEATH. It is
of very hard moor-stone; the shaft, which has eight unequal
sides, supports a tablet of an hexagonal form, adorned with very
rude carvings; on one side, a crucifix, on the other, the virgin
with the child in her lap.
On the edge of the tablet is also a figure ... thought by some
experienced antiqueries to be St. John the Evangelist." (2)
The cross was set up in its present position to mark the
traditional spot of the murder, in 1494, of William Chetwynd. It
is not known where in South Wales it came from. It was smashed
accidently by a cart during tree-felling c. 1918 (a).
The remains of the smashed shaft and head of a shaft-on-steps
type of medieval cross. The shaft is now in about seven
fragments but the largest part sill stands to a height of 1m. on
the southern slopes of King's Lowe (SJ92SW1) it is octagonal but
has angle stops so that the lowest part is square.
The hexagonal head, 0.6m high, 0.4m broad and 0.2m thick, is
largely intact and in one piece. The carvings on three faces, as
described above (2) - suggest a C15th date. See photograph. (3)
Only a single fragment of the shaft can now be seen in dense
undergrowth at SJ 9545 2373. It is 1.0m long, 0.2m wide and 0.2m
thick. It lies in a recently dug hole. Surveyed at 1/2500. (4)
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