Floriated cross

A week or so ago we went to a meeting of the Appleby Archaeology group and listened to a talk given by Peter Ryder about Cross Slabs. These are medieval grave covers used during the 11th to 15th Century and still around in churches across the country. Peter has identified and recorded hundreds of them across the north of England and it was fascinating to see all the different ones he had found.

They are usually just slabs of stone with the principle motif being a cross, although this can take many different forms. Then there may be other emblems that indicate sex, rank or occupation of the deceased. There were rarely any inscriptions. Most of these slabs it is thought were destroyed, but some were found and reused when a church was rebuilt or added to. They may appear as part of the wall or floor or just be propped up in porches or chancels.

I had no idea about these, even though there are many in nearby churches. We found one in the churchyard at The Old Church Brampton and a couple in the church as Escomb. Today we found one at our own church, just outside Dufton. This one has a floriated cross and a sword, indicating a male, and what appears to be a bow and arrow, which could indicate a forester or a huntsman. It is set into the outside south wall. It looks as though it was split in two at some point and was then put together during building. I love the thought that this is the work of a stonemason such a long time ago and then many years later it was rescued and added to a new church.

I may be looking for more of these. This is a link to a list of Cumbrian cross slabs, but it would appear that in other areas a study has been made of them and there are many such lists around.