St Mary (Wath)

Date Added: 1st Aug 2015
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Anglo Saxon Cross, St. Mary's Church, Wath: Situated on a bend in Main Street, Wath, this church is in a pretty little village. We parked outside the main gate of the church (there is just room for one car to sit here, as someone else’s gates are immediately adjacent). We eventually found the cross in the exterior of the church wall, in line with the porch in the south wall of the church. There are only narrow pavements running alongside; the size of the lorries that rumble through making taking photographs of this cross precarious, to say the least. Andrew watched both sides of the bend to ensure I wasn’t going to get run over when I took a photograph from the middle of the road.

I found a document by Harrogate Council which told me a little more about the church and village: Wath is the Old Norse term meaning ‘ford’ and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. There are parts of the church that are very old indeed, and the above booklet mentions “The only built fabric from around this time are the remains of Saxon sculptures in the organ chamber of the present St Mary’s Church and the stone cross embedded into the church boundary wall.” The church was locked at the time of our visit (which was after 6pm) so we couldn’t get into see these. There was an old sundial in the churchyard, just south of the porch. The booklet goes onto say that Wath was essentially the estate village to Norton Conyers, and “St Mary’s Church is the oldest building in the village. It dates primarily from the thirteenth century with additions and enlargement in the fifteenth century and a tower of 1812. It might have originally been a manorial chapel which was rebuilt as a parish church in the twelfth or thirteenth century. The next oldest building in the village is the Rectory, which dates from the sixteenth century and was probably built on the site of its predecessor.”

St Mary (Thornton Watlass)

Date Added: 1st Aug 2015
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Anglo Saxon Cross Heads, St Mary The Virgin (Thornton Watlass), North Yorkshire: St Mary The Virgin is 3 miles from Bedale and 11 miles from Ripon. It is grade II listed (English Heritage Building ID: 333615), dating largely from the 15th century.

There are two Anglo Saxon cross heads on display in the porch, one on the east wall and one on the west. The church was firmly locked at the time of our visit although the door to the porch was left open. We parked on the small triangle of land at the cross-roads opposite. It was tricky to cross the road as the church lies in the crook of a sharp bend and traffic cannot be seen until the last minute, so cross quickly!

According to the Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture by James Lang (Google books) "The cross head built into the interior east wall of the porch was first noted in 1908 by E. Bogg as being in its present position. Its height is 44.2 cms by 32.8 cms wide and 17 cms deep. Made of fine to medium-grained millstone grit, the right arm of the cross is lost and only one face is visible, and is part of a wheel-head cross with wedge-shaped arms and a ring recessed from the face. Date: first half of 10th century; The cross head in the west wall is 29.5 cms high, 48 cms wide (no depth recorded as it is built into the wall). The upper limb of the cross is lost; only one face is visible. Part of a plate-headed wheel cross, the rim raised and recessed from the face. A plain edge moulding follows the perimeter of the cross ... the lower limb of the cross has a curved incision which creates the impression at the sides of heavily stylised legs for a Crucifixion; conversely it could be the arris of a plain panel. The lateral arms are filled by hands with a wrist band and three huge fingers. In the centre of the cross is a large boss. Date: first half of the tenth century."
I admit to not being able to see the crucifixion scene described by James Lang in the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture (Google books) until I rotated my photograph by 90 degrees!

Fallowlees Settlement

Date Added: 1st Aug 2015
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Fallowlees Settlement, just off the National Trust Greenleighton Walk, Northumberland: Close to Fontburn a(vi), a(vii) and a(viii). See visit report for Hollinghill Enclosure. From a distance, coming up the quad bike track from Fallowlees Burn, there appear to be standing stones on the slope, but as we got closer, it became apparent these were the foundations of three hut circles, with another disappearing into the plantation to the north. What a lovely site to live in - a sheltered spot with water close by and fertile ground for farming. No wonder our ancestors chose to live here. The boulders with rock art on are just to the south, and appear to be part of cairns. Well worth the walk to see this.

Fontburn a(viii)

Date Added: 1st Aug 2015
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Fontburn a(viii), just off the National Trust Greenleighton Walk, Northumberland: See visit report for Hollinghill Enclosure.

Fontburn a(vii)

Date Added: 1st Aug 2015
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Fontburn a(vii), just off the National Trust Greenleighton Walk, Northumberland: See visit report for Hollinghill Enclosure.

Fontburn a(vi)

Date Added: 1st Aug 2015
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 1st Aug 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Fontburn a(vi), just off the National Trust Greenleighton Walk, Northumberland: See visit report for Hollinghill Enclosure.

Fontburn a(iii)

Date Added: 1st Aug 2015
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 1st Jan 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Fontburn a(iii), just off the National Trust Greenleighton Walk, Northumberland: See visit report for Hollinghill Enclosure.

Fontburn a(ii)

Date Added: 1st Aug 2015
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Fontburn a(ii), just off the National Trust Greenleighton Walk, Northumberland: See visit report for Hollinghill Enclosure.

Fontburn a(i)

Date Added: 1st Aug 2015
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Fontburn a(i), just off the National Trust Greenleighton Walk, Northumberland: See visit report for Hollinghill Enclosure.

West Shank Enclosure

Date Added: 1st Aug 2015
Site Type: Misc. Earthwork Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: West Shank Enclosure, near Fontburn Reservoir, Northumberland: See visit report for Hollinghill Enclosure.

Hollinghill Enclosure

Date Added: 1st Aug 2015
Site Type: Misc. Earthwork Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Hollinghill Enclosure, near Fontburn Reservoir, Northumberland: Before setting off on this walk, we'd identified a number of sites (2 enclosures and several rock art boulders) close to tracks/marked pathways on the Ordnance Survey map. Parking at the car park to the east of Fontburn Reservoir (near the fishing hut and as far south as we could get), we followed the Waterside Walk along the south side of the reservoir. This was slow as we got caught up with a large walking group who hogged the boardwalks, but we finally managed to overtake them. At the sign for the Nature Reserve, we clambered up the small slope onto the track across the access land leading to the west of the reservoir. I confess to finding walking across this access land challenging due to the heavily tussocked grass, no clear pathways, the number of drainage channels, small streams and boggy areas to cross (but seasoned walkers will have no difficulty!). Passing the large cup marked boulder (Fontburn B) on route, we made our way onto the ridge running east-west south of Fallowlees Burn, and onto the National Trust Greenleighton walk with its grassy, mown trackways clearly visible.
It is relatively easy to spot this settlement as the path cuts right through it and there is a lone, low hawthorn tree at its western side. From here, you can see across the Burn to Fontburn Four Poster (it looks, from a distance) as if someone has cut down the hawthorn trees near the stones making up this little circle).
Stopping for a drink and to take photos, we carried on westwards until we got to West Shank enclosure, which is much more visible in the landscape in the then took the modern farm track down the slope to Fallowlees Burn, then across the wooden bridge. On the north side of the bridge two sets of quad bike tracks lead off to the left and right. To the right, the land slopes upwards. Fontburn a(i), a(ii) and a(iii) sit on this land, no more than 100 metres from the footpath, but at this time of year a(i) and a(ii) are hidden by tall bracken. Fontburn a(iii) gleams at you from across the valley.
Having taken these three boulders in, we retraced our steps to the footbridge and took the quad bike tracks to the left hand side, picking our way over two small streams which join Fallowlees Burn close to the the footbridge. From here, it is easy walking up the slope, about 200 yards to Fontburn a(vi), a(vii) and a(viii) and Fallowlees Settlement.
All in all, this 4 and a half mile walk took us 6 hours because of the heavy terrain and exploring the archaeology, but well worth it.

Corbridge Rock Art Panel

Date Added: 24th Jul 2015
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 12th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Corbridge Rock Art Panel at Corbridge Roman Fort, Northumberland: OK, we've lived in this area for 13 years now, and the nearest we've been to this site is to take my daughter for driving lessons as it was good to practice reversing around corners in the quiet cul-de-sacs around here. Having said that, the Romans generally leave me 'cold' as they as so organised, everything is on a huge, grand scale, and having seen one or two forts, you can generally predict the layout of another. Sceptical? Probably.
However, the purpose of today's visit was to try to find the rock art panel which appears to just have been 'dumped' within the site; no-one seems sure where it comes from, apart from nearby somewhere.
The fort sits on level ground on top of a slope on the north side of the River Tyne, and as there is an old Roman bridge down by the river, this must have been a good place to cross in times gone by.
The staff at the kiosk knew nothing about the stone, until I called up an entry on the Modern Antiquarian (sorry, Portal) to show them, then the lady told me it was mentioned in the guided walks, and told me it was on the north side of the roman road (Stanegate) running through the site. After this, it was easy to find, almost at the far side of the site.
In the distance, across the fields, the church of St. Andrew's in Corbridge, with its anglo-saxon fragments, can be clearly seen.
I did find the strong room, with its set of narrow steps leading down into it, quite fascinating.

Wallington Hall Standing Stone

Date Added: 24th Jul 2015
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 1st Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Wallington Hall Standing Stone, Northumberland: Having been treated to National Trust membership for my birthday, we then sat and wondered how best to make use of this. We'd heard that there was a standing stone at Wallington Hall, but had never found it before. Having tracked down the location (around the China Pond (used to be called the Chinese Pond)), and absolutely loving their walled garden, which is absolutely breathtaking at this time of year, we set up on a Menhir Hunt.
Note to new visitors to Wallington: whereas you could park in the car park near the house then go to the hut to pay admittance, staff are on the entrance to the car park to take entrance money on the way in. I had my cards in the boot of the car, which didn't make me popular with the queue behind, but the less said about that, the better).
This stone, which is said to be the pair to the stone at the Poind and His Man, sits at the far side of the China Pond having been moved here by the famous Mr. Blackett who has built many structures and follys in and around Northumberland. Walking from the house and crossing the busy road to the forest walks, the China Pond is signposted, and it is less than a five minute walk. It certainly sits in a beautiful spot, although I was a little saddened to see it sitting on a concrete/stone base, having been propped up by bits of slates and other stones.
Whilst taking photographs, a couple stopped to watch, saying to each other "they're taking photographs for that Countryfile competition". We assured them we weren't. They were on the look-out for red squirrels, and listened politely when I explained about the standing stone.
Carrying on to the walled garden, I was stunned at the amount of work which goes into keeping this place immaculate. Whilst sipping hot tea at the cafe in the walled garden, the skies got very dark and we were treated to some some spectacular lightening on the way back. Shame the trees blocked the view of the lightening from the standing stone - that would have made a good photo.

Glebe Stone

Date Added: 29th Jun 2015
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Scotland (Scottish Borders)
Visited: Yes on 27th Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: The Glebe Stone, Yarrow, Scottish Borders: parked at NT 35172 27575

Driving back westwards from Warrior’s Rest standing stone, we immediately spotted the Glebe Stone in a field to the north of the road – how had we missed it the first time? With granddaughter’s pushchair in tow, we didn’t dare walk down this narrow, busy, country road, so we parked in the gateway to a barn at grid reference NT 35172 27575. Just as husband got out of the car to see how to access the field, a girl and her dog drove past the car to the barn behind on a quad bike, so I hopped out to explain what we were doing. “No, you’re very welcome to look. There’s a gate a 100 yards or so down the field”, she told me.

This stone, the Canmore Site no. 53061 notes tell me, sits 530 yards ENE of the Yarrow Stone and sits 40 yards north of the main road. These notes say “the stone has been fenced in (although the fence is not now in place) and measures 4ft 6ins in height, from 2ft 7 ins to 3ft 10ins in width and 1ft 4ins in thickness. The broader sides face WNW and ESE. On the latter side, near the base, there are two doubtful cup marks, one measuring 3ins in diameter and ½ inch deep, another 4ins by 5ins and 2 and ½ ins deep. Around the stone there was formerly a large cairn covering a quantity of decomposed bones.”

It was an easy walk up a shallow grassy slope to the stone, and I went all around taking photographs. There is a pleasant view over to Yarrow Water (this stone sits closest of the three stones close together – this stone, the Yarrow Stone & Warrior’s Rest stones) just the other side of the road.

I definitely saw some cup marks on the eastern face of the stone – photographs here to see what others think.

From here, it was back into Selkirk and onto Melrose to see the Abbey before going onto the Kelpies at Falkirk. A great day out!

Warrior's Rest

Date Added: 29th Jun 2015
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Scotland (Scottish Borders)
Visited: Yes on 27th Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Warrior Stone, Yarrow, Scottish Borders: The Canmore Site (no. 53054) notes say that this stone is “at the south east corner of the cottage known as Warrior’s Rest, 300 yards west of Yarrow Church, there is a standing stone measuring 5ft 3ins in height, 5ft 9ins round the base and 4ft around the shoulder. The top is pointed.”

As the crow flies, it is just over 700 metres east of the Yarrow Stone, back towards Yarrow village. We spotted the small white signpost to Warrior’s Rest cottage at the left hand side of the road and stopped at the entrance. We couldn’t see any standing stone in the vicinity at all, even climbing the steps to the nearby war memorial just to the west of the cottage to see if we could spot anything. In the end, I walked up the track towards the cottage and spotted what appeared to be the top of a small standing stone peeking out above one of the two cars parked on the driveway.

Having come all this way, I was disappointed not to be able to see the stone, so decided to walk up and knock on the door. The curtains were drawn and the door to the garage was open, but despite knocking and calling out, I got no response, so decided to be cheeky and take a couple of photographs (and if anyone came, I’d explain). The stone literally stand a couple of feet away from the front bedroom window – whether its still in its original place and the cottage was built next to it, or the stone has been relocated next to the cottage was difficult to tell.

The Canmore notes also say there are two, previously unreported, cup marks on the eastern side of the stone, although I did quickly examine the stone for any cup marks, but didn’t see any. Usually my camera can pick up on things the eye finds difficult to differentiate at the time, but examining the photos this morning, I couldn’t see anything. I wonder now, at the time of writing, if this has been confused with the Glebe Stone, as I did see two cup marks on the eastern face of this stone.

The Yarrow Stone

Date Added: 29th Jun 2015
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Scotland (Scottish Borders)
Visited: Yes on 27th Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: The Yarrow Stone, Yarrow, Scottish Borders: From Selkirk, we took the A708 towards St Mary’s Loch and Moffat. There was a diversion coming out of Selkirk, due to roadworks, so we had to double back to get onto the A708. Passing through the hamlet of Yarrowford, the road runs by Yarrow Water to the left hand side – a very pleasant, fertile valley. Reaching Yarrow, the kirk was signposted to the right hand side of the road, and a small grass-crete area in the centre of a triangle of roads made it possible to stop and get our bearings. Continuing westwards along the A708, we kept our eyes peeled for standing stones which, according to the Canmore notes, were visible from the road, but didn’t see anything. We reached the hamlet of Yarrow Feus before turning back and retracing our steps towards Yarrow.

We found the signpost for Whitefield (a farm) easily enough on the left hand side of the road, and there was a small layby big enough for two cars to park by the side of the A708. From here, a track led up to a gate into a field, where the Yarrow Stone was visible surrounded by a wooden fence to protect it from stock (there were none in the field at the time of our visit). The grid reference was spot on (thank you!) and it was an easy, short walk up the stony track.

There is a small plaque which reads: “The Yarrow Stone. This inscribed stone records the grave of two Christian British princes who lived during the 5th or 6th century AD. It was uncovered around 1803, when up to twenty large stone cairns were removed from a former moor, known as Annan Street, to create arable fields. The inscription is in Latin and can be read as: (+) HIC MEMORIA PE(RP)ETV(A) {I}N LOCO INSIGNISIMI PRINCI PES NVDI DVMNOGENI HIC IACENT IN TVMVLO DVO FILI LIBARALI{S} which translated means “this is the everlasting memorial. In this place lie the most famous princes Nudoss and Dumnogenos. In this tomb lie the two sons of Liberalis.” After the end of Roman Britain, in the 5th century AD, much of the Southern Uplands became part of the British Kingdom of Strathclyde. St. Ninian was the force behind Christian Missionary work in the region, which sought to convert the population through its leaders. This site may already have been a place of ceremonial importance in prehistoric times, but the Yarrow Stone and other burials in stone lined graves (cists) suggest that it was also valued by early Christians.”

From here it was a short hop to find the Warrior’s Rest standing stone.

Great Urswick Burial Chamber

Date Added: 26th Jun 2015
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Great Urswick Burial Chamber, Cumbria: There is not much on the web about this site, and nothing (apart from a finger post in the vicinity) on ADS, apart from the fact this site is ‘ruined’ and ‘possibly Bronze age’. Parking on these narrow lanes was dreadful and were also very busy with traffic, so going round a bend you were likely to come bumper to bumper with a vehicle going the other way. When we finally found a grass verge with room for one car there was a large truck and a horse and rider stopped to natter to each other, so we drove around again – it would have been easier to walk from the village (also avoiding the bull in the field - see later).

The first part of the footpath across the meadows from Middle Barrow Lane was easy enough. There was a tumble-down stile, built up by a mound of stones on the far side (at grid reference SD 26018 7483). We then lost the footpath and ended up going through various fields towards the village.

We found a lone gate post sitting in a dip between two small hills. I thought at first it was a standing stone, but it had the remains of a hook embedded in it. Carrying on towards Great Urswick, there is a hill rising to the left hand side with limestone pavement on top. Walking up the slope the chamber comes into view, although I wasn’t convinced at first. The chamber lies within the context of surrounding limestone pavement, on a slope and largely consists of a few larger stones piled on top of each other with a gap between smaller stones lower down the slope. The whole chamber is mostly covered by large hawthorn bushes. I had to call up the photograph on the Portal to make sure we were looking at the right thing!

Walking back to the car, the footpath was clearly visible from this side, walking north westwards along the top of the hill. However, we were stopped dead in our tracks by a very large tan and white bull which splayed its front legs and stared us out. We turned quietly round and went back down into the shallow valley to follow the way we’d come. We found the footpath signs easily on the way back. There was an iron kissing gate in the hedge to our left hand side, followed by a short but steep climb into the field with the bull. Thereafter an easy walk to the burial chamber.

Great Urswick Cross

Date Added: 25th Jun 2015
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Great Urswick/The Tunwini Cross, Great Urswick, Cumbria: Turning right off the A590 just south of Ulverston/Swarthmoor, along a road signposted only to ‘Urswick’, we headed off on narrow little lanes, just as the sun broke through the clouds. The village of Great Urswick is built round two sides of Urswick Tarn. The church can be found on the left/western side of the tarn, almost at the southern end of the village. A small car park allows visitors to draw up to the gate, where a footpath and stile runs off through the churchyard around the southern side of the tarn. Whilst the church itself is surrounded by trees, walking past the church to the southern boundary of the churchyard gives superb views over to Birkrigg Common.

Inside the church was pretty spooky, as the darkness seemed to suck all the light out. We found the light switches but none worked (must have been on a timer or master switch), so we were left to look around by the light of the few lamps that had been left on at the west end of the church.

Entering the church through the south porch, the Great Urswick/Tunwini Cross is on the first window sill on the south aisle, and is impressive in size. The church guide makes reference to two crosses; we were unable to find another fragment, although there was a drawing of another Viking cross with a knot design on the wall behind the font. The Furness Blog Spot, which I found this morning, tells me that this fragment is not on display in the church, but then doesn’t say where it is housed.

Going through the door to the belfry, we were immediately struck by the thickness of the walls, which was apparently a pele tower used to protect inhabitants and animals in time of war/marauders. In the chancel there are also some fantastic choir stall end carvings, all with cherubs playing different musical instruments.

At the entrance to the south porch there are clear marks on the eastern side where arrows have been sharpened, together with the remains of an old cow chain (the vicar used to apparently have grazing rights in the churchyard, although sheep are kept there now) and the barely visible remains of a mass hour dial on the western side of the porch.

Jarrow

Date Added: 22nd Jun 2015
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Tyne and Wear)
Visited: Yes on 10th Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Anglo Saxon Fragments, St Paul's Church and St Bede's Monastery, Jarrow: We parked at Bede’s World (a couple of hundred yards away from the church and the monastery) and having decided to start off at St Paul’s Church, we followed (or tried to follow) the signs, which took us across the busy main road to another car park. All the paths seemed to lead into the middle of no-where. After 10 minutes wandering around in circles with granddaughter in pushchair, I finally went inside to ask. The girls at the Bede’s World reception had to go and ask. “It’s straight through the park”, they told me. All the posters up in the reception area said the church was open until 15:30 so we thought we had plenty of time.

Not being able to get the pushchair down the ramp into the park (too overgrown) we followed the pavement along the main road down to the church, where we had to manoeuvre round tree cutters to follow the path up to the west porch. We were greeted by the ruins of St Bede’s Monastery on our right hand side – such an ancient building incongruously topped by modern pylons rising up behind.

It turned out the church was only open until 3pm so we only had 10 minutes to go in, wander round, take photographs and try and appreciate the history of what we were seeing. A volunteer came up to us and I waved the Corpus of Anglo Saxon stone sculpture pages that I’d printed off and explained I was on a ‘treasure hunt for Anglo Saxon cross pieces’. Instead, we got drawn into the old monastery chapel for a guided tour. The rest of the church seems, and feels, pretty ordinary, but this old chapel, dating from AD681 with its dedication plaque above the entry arch, was very moody and special. The lady pointed out the two pieces of original Anglo-Saxon glass in the south windows.

It also turns out that the fragments are now in display cases, rather than being displayed in the porches, which made them incredibly difficult to photograph, as the light coming through the church windows reflected in the glass, as did the flash when I tried to use it. By this point, they were turning the lights off in the church to go home, although they very kindly let us stay an extra 10 minutes so I could photograph some of the artefacts. Definitely a second trip needed when there’s more time to wander round the old church and the ruins of the monastery outside.

St Wilfrid (Melling)

Date Added: 18th Jun 2015
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Lancashire)
Visited: Yes on 6th Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Anglo Saxon Cross, St. Wilfrid's Church, Melling: From seeing the reconstructed cross at Halton, we set off back to Melling, to work our way back towards Levens Park/Sizergh Fell to end the day. Following the A683 back through Hornby, we drove through the village of Melling, with very narrow roads, and with cars and huge trucks trying to pass each other, it was a bit precarious to say the least. The church is on a very narrow section of Main Street, so we ended up parking in Gillison Close, having to turn right just past the church into a road that eventually turns into Lodge Lane. There was no footpath for 200 yards down this small road, which, given the amount of traffic on it, was exciting for pedestrians [note: there are steps up to the church, so disabled access is going to be difficult].

Formerly called St. Peter’s (but I haven’t been able to find out when the dedication changed), this pretty church is Grade 1 listed. The British History Online notes state that the church “stands on the west slope of an elevated plateau, the top of which forms an ancient earthwork known as Castle Mount”. This church looks ancient from outside but deceptively modern inside, apart from the tower. The ADS website was down at the time of writing this, but both Wikipedia and the “A Church Near You” website states that “the earliest fabric in the church dates from around 1300 or earlier ... it is possible that a church has been on the site since the 10th century.”

We found a fragment of Anglo Saxon cross tucked away on a window sill on the west interior wall, alongside a modern ceramic bowl and a piece of medieval grave marker. This short piece of cross shaft has basket-work interlacing which British History Online says was taken out of the churchyard wall a few years ago. Curiously, the on-line records of the Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture has only a one line mention of this stone, saying there are similarities with cross shafts found at Aspatria and Lancaster.

There is apparently a piece of Norman chevron ornament, found below the tower floor, which is now built into the vestry wall, but this was not accessible during our visit.

In the porch there are a couple of medieval grave markers displayed against the east wall. Outside, near the south wall, there is a very tall sundial, which must have been meant to have been read from horseback. It still has it’s (now green) brass plate on the top, but no gnomon. Wikipedia says it probably dates from the 18th century and is Grade II listed.