GETTING CROSS . . .

Tis a mystery . . . just a mystery . . . the North York Moors contains an extensive collection of moorland crosses, each with a story behind the stone. On the cycle ride today Tony and I came a-cross this cross . . . if you see what I mean.

Research suggests that this is Lilla Cross, situated on Fylingdales Moor between Pickering and Whitby and close to the Fylingdales Ballistic Missile Early Warning Station. However some of the images portrayed as Lilla Cross seem to be different to this one – so I am getting cross !

Hmmm . . . yet another local landmark that I was totally unaware of . . . and worth tracking through knee-high mud to reach. The full legend of the cross is recorded below, if you have the patience to read it all.

According to the legend, in AD 625 King Edwin of Northumbria was travelling with his entourage across the moors, but an assassin had been dispatched by the King of the West Saxons to kill King Edwin. As the assassin lunged forward with his poison tipped sword, Lilla, his chief minister at the court, leapt in between his sovereign and the swordsman. Poor Lilla took the full thrust of the sword and died on the spot, thus saving the King from being murdered. King Edwin was greatly impressed by this selfless act of devotion and ordered that Lilla, being a newly converted Christian, be buried here in a Christian way. The King then had a cross erected in memory at the spot where Lilla died.