Monument of the Month

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Submitted by Area rep Linda Edyvean

I never really took much notice of crosses until I volunteered to take on Blisland parish for Monument Watch. This one particularly caught my eye as it looked like it didn’t quite fit. After looking it up on the Heritage Gateway website I found it had a bit of a story. It is a medieval wayside cross and lies in Blisland churchyard. It has an upright granite head and octagonal shaft. The cross-head has unenclosed arms, making it a ‘Latin’ cross and it too is octagonal in section.
The cross is believed to be Blisland’s village cross and was originally positioned at the centre of the village green. The cross however, was knocked down (possibly during the 17th Century) with the head taken to the rectory and a sundial placed on the shaft. It seems the cross head was then lost, but later found when excavations began for a barn in the grounds of the rectory. Rather than it being replaced on the original shaft, it was placed on top of a rubbing post (as illustrated in 1896 by the historian Langdon). By then, the shaft had been removed from the village green (around 1850) and taken to Tregadick estate (1km away) to be used as a gatepost. At last around 1896 the shaft and head were reunited on a new base in the churchyard in their present location. If you look at the shaft, you can still see the iron gate hinge fitting.