Tag: medieval history

Maiden Cross, Mereclough, Burnley, Lancashire

megalithix

Cross (replaced):  OS Grid Reference – SD 8936 2883

Archaeology & History

“Maiden Cross” stone

Highlighted on the 1848 Ordnance Survey map, the original stone ‘cross’ has apparently been moved from its location up against the walling 30-40 yards away and placed by the roadside, just as you’re going into where the windmills are, right at the very crown of the hill, across from the car-park.  I’m not so sure it’s the original one to be honest—but I may be wrong.  Clifford Byrne (1974) certainly thought this is the original stone.  He may be wright.  Byrne told that “the Marquis of Colne had a photograph of the stump of the cross in situ,” which would be good to compare.  It’s nowt special to look at, but at least the site has been remembered, so to speak.

Site shown on 1848 map

The Maiden Cross was one in a series of wayside crosses along this ancient high road—known as the Long Causeway—not only marking it out when the snows covered it in the old Winters that we used to get, but also possessing religious importance to travellers.  It was first moved sometime in the 19th century and “utilised as a gatepost into Maiden Cross colliery”—itself long gone.

Folklore

The name given to the ‘cross’ comes from a story that’s found at a number of other ‘maiden’ place-names.  There may be an element of truth in it.  It was told to the great historian and folklorist T.T. Wilkinson by his grandfather in 1766 and, according to him, his grandfather before that!  J.A. Waddington (1884) subsequently wrote down the tale that Wilkinson told him:

“During the time of the great rebellion, this was the trysting-place of a young shepherd with his lady love. Often did they meet to pledge their simple vows at this lonely place, until one day a messenger came from Towneley to collect as many young men as he could get to swell the ranks of Rupert when he passed through this part to join the Royal forces at York, a march which ended with the disastrous fight at Marston Moor, on whose bloody sod lay stretched the chivalrous Towneley, and a many of his followers, including this young man, the victims of a tyrannical and ambitious king. For many a long year after this tragical event the poor demented maiden would repair to this hallowed spot, repeating with a sorrowful voice his promise to return.”

This was curiously described by Ormerod (1906) as “a pathetic tradition”!  He much preferred the simple idea of this (and the other crosses along the road) as merely serving “the capacity of guideposts to the traveller (overtaken in a mist or by the swiftly lowering shades of light) who might be traversing these lonely roads”, as Waddington put it.  Ormerod cited a conversation he had with “an old road mender” which for him confirmed the idea:

“Asked if he had heard what was the object of these crosses, he said, that “Joonas Lee said as they were put up 250 yer sin, for guideposts for’t pack horses, between Halifax and Brunshaw” (Burnley), adding, as if to give more weight to the authority he had quoted: “An he wur a far larned chap wur Joonas—he wur a preycher.”’

Walter Bennett (1941) meanwhile, thought its name derived from the Virgin Mary and this cross, at least, possessed religious importance.

References:

  1. Bennett, W., The History of Burnley – volume 1, Burnley County Council 1946.
  2. Byrne, Clifford, A Survey of the Ancient Wayside Crosses in North-East Lancashire, privately printed 1974.
  3. Holden, Joshua, A History of Todmorden, Manchester University Press 1912.
  4. Ormerod, T., Calderdale, Lupton Bros: Burnley 1906.
  5. Waddington, J. Arthur, ‘The Crosses in and Around Burnley’, in Transactions Burnley Literary & Scientific Club, volume 1, 1884.

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Torran, Ford, Kilmartin, Argyll

megalithix

Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NM 87901 04877

Getting Here

The big man o’ Torran

On the A816 road, a mile-and-a-bit north of Kilmartin, take the small road (east) to Ford—passing the Creagantairbh stone on your right, then a bit further on the Auchinellan stone on your left.  Go through Ford village, making sure to stick to the road that goes along the north side of Loch Awe — as if you’re heading to Dalavich.  Just fractionally over a mile out of Ford village, just where the road begins to swerve into a large bend, there’s a small left-turn that takes you to some houses.  Just 60-70 yards along this little road, take the trivial little path on your right that takes you straight to a piece of manicured scrubland.  If you walk into it, and bear left, you’ll see what you’re looking for.  It’s unmissable!

Archaeology & History

When I first visited here in the 1990s, a farm building stood by this huge standing stone and there were no other houses nearby.  How things change—but thankfully our old sentinel stone is still living here.

Site shown on 1875 map
Romilly Allen’s 1880 sketch

It was highlighted by the Ordnance Survey lads on their early map of the area, and visited a few years later by the great petroglyphic pioneer J. Romilly Allen. (1880)  Standing eleven feet tall and more than four feet across at the base, Allen noticed that, about four feet above ground-level, someone had carved an old cross onto the northeast face of the stone (you can just make it out in the attached photos).  It had obviously been carved many centuries ago, by a wandering christian no doubt—although it was incomplete and never finished.  Perhaps the person who carved it was chased away by local folk, who would have obviously and rightly seen such an act as outright vandalism.  The cross was deemed by Ian Fisher (2001) and the Royal Commission (1992) to be medieval in nature.  Apparently there’s another, much fainter cross that was first mentioned by Marion Campbell etched on the other side of the stone, but in all the times I came here I was never able to make it out.

Old faint cross carving
Small person, big stone!

But even further back in time someone had carved a cup-marking on the stone—and the cross was etched onto the same spot, enclosing the cup-mark.  When I lived nearby, I made a sketch (long since lost) of what seemed to be two other faint cup-marks at one end of the extended arms of the cross, but on our recent visit here these were very hard to make out.  When Ron Morris (1981) mentioned the stone in his survey, he mentioned its proximity to other cup-and-ring carvings immediately to the southeast and a hillock thereby, wondering whether there was “an astronomical complex” going on here.  I doubt it—but I like the idea!

But it’s the size of the stone that’s most impressive here and keeps up with the tradition of similar megaliths in and around the Kilmartin area.  Check the place out when you’re hunting the other stones nearby.  You won’t be disappointed!

Folklore

Local tradition ascribed this great stone as marking the grave of an ancient warrior.  The full folk tale seems to have been lost.

References:

  1. Allen, J. Romilly, “Note on a Standing Stone near Ford, Argyllshire,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 14, 1880.
  2. Campbell, Marion, Mid Argyll: An Archaeological Guide, Dolphin: Glenrothes 1984.
  3. Campbell, Marion & Sandeman, M., “Mid Argyll: An Archaeological Survey,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 95, 1964.
  4. Christison, D., “On the Standing Stones and Cup-Marked Rocks, etc. in the Valley of the Add and some Neighbouring Districts of Argyle,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, volume 38, 1904.
  5. Fisher, Ian, Early Medieval Sculpture in the West Highlands and Islands, RCAHMS: Edinburgh 2001.
  6. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR: Oxford 1981.
  7. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – Volume 6: Mid-Argyll and Cowal, HMSO: Edinburgh 1988.
  8. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – Volume 7: Mid-Argyll and Cowal: Medieval and Later Monuments, HMSO: Edinburgh 1992.
  9. Ruggles, Clive, Megalithic Astronomy, BAR: Oxford 1984.
  10. Swarbrick, Olaf, A Gazetteer of Prehistoric Standing Stones in Great Britain, BAR: Oxford 2012.

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

St. Maughold’s Well, Ramsey, Isle of Man

megalithix

Holy Well:  OS Grid Reference – SC 49624 91926

Also Known as:

  1. Chibber Maghal
  2. Chibbyr Vaghal
  3. Chibbyr y Vashtee

Archaeology & History

St. Maughold’s Well—also called Chibbyr Vaghal—is found on the northeast side of the headland on the cliff face about a hundred feet above the sea, a quarter mile from the St. Maughold’s church.  It was a pilgrimage site which people visited on the dates of November 15 and July 31.

“…Beneath the head, under some moss clad rocks, is a deep spring, formerly much celebrated for its supposed medicinal virtues.”
– George Jefferson, 1840

St Maughold’s on 1870 map
‘Well’ on the 1836 map

Its medicinal properties are of great repute and was resorted to by many on account of its sanctity by crowds of pilgrims.  The well was traditionally visited on the first Sunday in August, being the first Sunday after the Saint ‘s principal feast day, July 31 (significant in the Celtic calendar), but the devotions here have their origins in pre-christian times.  The principal benefit at the well was a cure for sore eyes.  After bathing the eyes or drinking the water it was/is customary to drop a coin, pin or button into it.  Alternatively, a piece of cloth which had been used for bathing the eyes would be left by the well or on a nearby bush.  As the cloth rotted, the ailment would be cured; while anyone who picked up the rags would himself receive the complaint associated with the offering; and to receive the full benefit of the well’s curative powers it should be visited on that first Sunday in August, and “while books were open in the church” — or in pre-reformation days, whilst Mass was being offered.

“…Where the spring gushes forth the rock has been hollowed into a small basin, and over it has been erected a simple shed of rough unhewn blocks of the rock immediately at hand. Hither the Saint is said to have resorted; nor is it altogether improbable that nearly fourteen hundred years ago at this very font he administered the baptismal rite. Certainly it was for many ages in great repute for its medicinal properties, and was resorted to on account of its sanctity by crowds of pilgrims from all parts. Nor is it yet forgotten.”
– J.G. Cumming, 1848

“…A drink of its water, taken after resting in the saint’s chair close by, is supposed to be an unfailing cure for barrenness in women.”
– A.W. Moore, 1890

Folklore

At Maughold churchyard above the well, ghostly whispers are said to be heard by the steps in the churchyard.  This is interesting as when excavations were done here, the labourers found bones buried beneath the same steps.  They were dug and exposed during the day and one worker who stayed in the church heard distant sounds, whispers and murmuring all around the church.  When the bones were reinterred, the haunting stopped. (Bord & Bord 1985)

References:

  1. Bord, Janet & Colin, Sacred Waters: Holy Wells and Water Lore in Britain and Ireland, Granada: London 1985.
  2. Cumming, J.G., The Isle of Man: Its History, Physical and Ecclesiastical, J. van Voorst: London 1848.
  3. Hall, John, “Earth Mysteries of the Isle of Man,” in Earth, no.17, 1990.
  4. Moore, A.W., The Surnames and Place-Names of the Isle of Man, Elliot Stock: London 1890.
  5. Jefferson, George, Jefferson’s Isle of Man, G. Jefferson: Douglas 1840.
  6. Radcliffe, William & Constance, A History of Kirk Maughold, Manx Museum: Douglas 1979.

© John Hall, 1990

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

Oxenhope Cross, West Yorkshire

megalithix

Cross:  OS Grid Reference – SE 03111 35206

Getting Here

The cross in the wall

If you’re coming up to Oxenhope from Keighley, up the A6033 road, when you reach the school on the right-hand side of the road, a one-way street (Cross Lane) is where you need to walk down, for 200 yards, and keep your eyes peeled in the walling just before Cross Farm Court.  Alternatively, via Haworth, go along Marsh Lane for a few hundred yards until your reach Moorhouse Lane on your left.  Go down here for ⅓-mile (0.5km) and then go up Cross Lane on your right. About 120 yards up, in the walling just past the entrance into Cross Farm Court is where you’ll find it.

Archaeology & History

Very little seems to be known about the remains of this cross, embedded into the old walling.  When it was described by Brigg & Villy (1914), they could find no information about it, and surmised that it marked the original track or road to Oxenhope from both Haworth and Halifax, “on the line of the old road by Withens.” Ostensibly it would seem to have been a wayside cross, marking old trackways (ley hunters take note!).

Visitors looking at it today can see that it’s barely noticeable.  It looked no different even in Brigg & Villy’s days.  It simply consists of only part of the original head of the cross, “the shaft having been broken off flush with the horizontal limb.”  Some of the other stones that make up the bottom of this very poor-looking excuse of a cross were probably not part of the original, but were assembled into the wall to at least leave of memory of what it used to look like.  It’s in a sorry state to be honest.  A historic plaque should be placed here.

References:

  1. Brigg, J.J. & Villy, F., “Three Ancient Crosses near Keighley,” in Bradford Antiquary, New Series 6, 1921.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Mercat Cross, Doune, Perthshire

megalithix

Cross:  OS Grid Reference – NN 72704 01570

Also Known as:

  1. Market Cross

Getting Here

Easy to find: get into the middle of the village where the shops are in the main street and where another road veers off, the cross sits there in the middle in the traffic island.  The photo here shows its location clearly.

Archaeology & History

Doune’s Mercat Cross

Found at the meeting of the roads in the centre of this old lovely village, the Mercat Cross in its present state was, according to Act of Parliament, erected a few years prior to 1696.  Set on a square base of six steps in traditional pyramidal fashion, near the top of the 12-foot tall shaft  are carvings on the sides of the stone.  On the east-face was carved the Moray arms, and on the west face were carved sundials.  John Small (1900) told how the top of the cross is crowned by the figure of a lion, “holding in its paws a circular shield or escutcheon, surrounded by a ribbon enclosing he Moray crest, and bearing the motto, ‘Salus per Christum.’

John Small’s 1900 sketch

It has been damaged a few times over the years.  Sometime around 1800, Moray Mackay (1953) told that “the lion fell of and was damaged”, but was repaired shortly afterwards by a local man.  He also told, with considerable indignation, how the local authorities were responsible for damaging what used to be “four short pillars which stood at the corners of the base,” when they were “smashed off and removed , impairing the balance of the whole (cross) for the sake of six inches more traffic room”!  There are two such short pillars at the edges, but these aren’t the original stones.  There used to be a water pump in front of the cross, but this was removed many years ago.

References:

  1. Mackay, Moray S., Doune – Historical Notes, Forth Naturalist: Stirling 1984.
  2. McKenzie, A.F. & S., Doune – Postcards from the Past, Forth Naturalist: Stirling 1988.
  3. Small, John W., Scottish Market Crosses, Eneas Mackay: Stirling 1900.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 

Stump Cross, Bramley, Leeds, West Yorkshire

megalithix

Cross (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SE 2546 3537

Archaeology & History

Location of the old cross

In medieval times an old stone cross was erected at the edge of Bramley where two old tracks once met, and which today is the junction where Broad Lane meets with Outgang Lane.  The cross is long gone – and even the stone cross base on which it stood no longer existed when the Ordnance Survey lads came here in the 1840s.  All that remained when they came here were the place-names which have forever kept a memory of its former existence: Stump Cross Stile and Stump Cottage.  It was mentioned, albeit briefly, in Wardell’s (1890) survey of Kirkstall Abbey where he told simply that a

“stone cross formerly stood some distance south of the Abbey by the side of the Old Road to Bradford, at the junction of the lane leading to Bramley, called the Outgang, but no remains of it are left; the site, however, is still known by the name of ‘Stump Cross Stile.’  Whether this cross marked the extent of some boundary, or was erected by the monks or others for the purposes of devotion for wayfarers, I am unable to ascertain.”

References:

  1. Wardell, James, An Historical Account of Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire, Samuel Moxon: Leeds 1890.

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Muse Well, Edinburgh, Midlothian

megalithix

Healing Well (destroyed):  OS Grid-Reference – NT 2547 7337

Archaeology & History

Muses ‘Well’ on 1852 map

We have the historical detective work of Stuart Harris (1996) to thank for the location and probable meaning behind the name of this long-lost well, that could once be seen along Haymarket, near the heart of the old city. Shown on the 1852 OS map, without name, the site was recorded as a public well “from 1502 onwards,” he wrote — and its name was variably written as muse, muss, meus and mwse, which led him to surmise that it was from the old Scots word “meuse”, or the “well by the stables”; although I cannot find this validated in the established dialect dictionaries and glossaries of William Grant (1934-76) or Simon Taylor (2012).  Their relative definitions tell it to be of a mouse, or a small trackway left by rabbits, hares or rodents, running between hedgeways.  This would mean the ‘Muse Well’ was a variant around a “well by an animal track”, which in earlier centuries were very important to note, as wild animals were indicators of food (amongst other things).

This aside, “the King’s Stables, dating from the 1340s, were of course over 200 yards further west,” he wrote,

“but the convent of the Greyfriars, founded in 1471 in the Cowgatehead only about fifty yards east of the Muse Well, certainly gave lodging to travellers of the more distinguished sort, and although no early record of stables here has come to light, it may be no accident that the only stables recorded in the Valuation Roll of 1635 as being on the south side of Grassmarket were in McIntyre’s Close, which had its entry ten yards east of the Well.”

References:

  1. Grant, William (ed.), The Scottish National Dictionary – 10 volumes, SNDA: Edinburgh 1934-76.
  2. Harris, Stuart, The Place-Names of Edinburgh: Their Origins and History, Gordon Wright: Edinburgh 1996.
  3. Taylor, Simon & Gilbert, Markus, “Elements Glossary”, in The Place-Names of Fife – volume 5, Shaun Tyas: Donington 2012.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 

Abbey Cross, Whitby, North Yorkshire

megalithix

Cross:  OS Grid Reference – NZ 90242 11300

Abbey Cross, c.1920
Abbey Cross – with Linz & Em, 2019
Abbey Cross, c.1912

Getting Here

Pretty easy to find: from Whitby town centre, head uphill to the great ruins of Whitby Abbey.  You go past Caedmon’s Cross and past the more recent church and graveyard to the car-park at the top, outside the abbey.  At the edge of the car-park on the grass, you’ll see this tall hard upright, nice and erect!

Archaeology & History

Cross shown on 1894 map

Highlighted on the earliest OS-maps and not to be confused with the nearby and more modern Caedmon’s Cross, this tall large monolith stands upon a stepped plinth comprising of six steps (originally five), about 18 feet high.  The top of the cross was knocked off a century or two ago, when it was reported to have been twenty feet!  Initially it stood about fifty yards closer to the Abbey, but was removed to its present position following the Dissolution. 

The brief history regarding its origin was described in George Young’s (1817) major work, in which he told that in 1474, on John Nightingale, rector of Sneaton parish, in his will “appointed his burial to be on the north side (of the Abbey), before the cross,” which was already standing at that time.  Young wrote:

“By this it would appear that the ancient cross, now standing in the abbey plain was then within the cemetery of the abbey.”

Abbey Cross, c.1900
Young’s 1817 sketch

This has subsequently been taken as the standard regarding its origin.  Tradition also told that it was an old market cross, but this was treated with considerable scepticism by George Young, who believed that the monks here simply wouldn’t have allowed such a thing at the edge the abbey and burial ground.  He found evidence to indicate that it “was at the port or harbour of Whitby that corn was bought or sold, that here were kept the standard bushels for measuring corn, and that here the market-clerk had his station.”  In spite of this, T.H. Woodwark (1934) reported that fairs had been held at the cross early in the 20th century.  In a thoroughly profane way, electrical wiring was wrapped around the bottom of the cross and led to a generator, along with washing-lines running from it to a caravan!  Mr Young would have been apoplectic!  

References:

  1. Atkinson, J.C., Memorials of Old Whitby, MacMillan: London 1894.
  2. Holt, Robert B., Whitby, Past and Present, Copas: London 1890.
  3. Woodwark. T.H., The Crosses on the North York Moors, Whitby Literary & Philosophical Society 1934.
  4. Young, George, A History of Whitby and Streonshalh Abbey (2 volumes), Clark & Medd: Whitby 1817.

Acknowledgements:  Massive thanks to Lindsay (wherefore art thou…?) Mitchell for getting us up here…  Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Holy Well, Basford, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

megalithix

Holy Well (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SK 553 427

Archaeology & History

First mentioned in place-name records from 1409, this seemingly lost sacred well could be found in the south-side of St. Leodegarius’s churchyard.  It was filled-in sometime in the 19th century when the ground around it collapsed to some considerable depth, so the hole was covered.  Despite this, water kept re-appearing on and off over the decades and, in Bob Morrell’s (1988) holy wells survey, he told that following constant heavy rains in 1987, it was filled in for the last time.

References:

  1. Bailey, Thomas, Annals of Nottinghamshire, Simpkin Marshall: London 1853.
  2. Gover, J.E.B., Mawer, Allen & Stenton, F.M., The Place-Names of Nottinghamshire, Cambridge University Press 1940.
  3. Harte, Jeremy, English Holy Wells – 3 volumes, Heart of Albion press: Wymeswold 2008.
  4. Morrell, Robert, Nottinghamshire Holy Wells and Springs, Nottingham 1988.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

God’s Well, Arkesden, Essex

megalithix

Sacred Well:  OS Grid Reference – TL 467 356

Archaeology & History

Located in the copse known as Godwell’s Grove on the western boundary of Arkesden, there are good grounds for thinking this was a sacred well: not necessarily relating to the christian God, but what A.H. Smith (1956) described simply as, from the old English, “a (heathen) god.”  Another site of the same name is found in Wiltshire.  In the local survey by Parish (2010), he told that “its name suggests it is a holy well.”

In Reaney’s (1976) survey on English place-names, he looks at a number of places where the element “god” is found and explores the notion of them recording a personal name, Gode.  This is evident of course, but he stated that,

“it would indeed be a remarkable coincidence if all these names…were to contain the personal-name Gode, a short form of Godric, Godwine, etc.  It in inconceivable that the reference should be to the christian deity… All are situated in areas of early settlement where heathen place-names might be expected and may well contain OE god, ‘a god’.”

There is no longer any trace of the well.

References:

  1. Parish, R.B., Holy Wells and Healing Springs of Essex, Pixyled Press: Nottingham 2010.
  2. Reaney, P.H., The Place-Names of Essex, Cambridge University Press 1935.
  3. Reaney, P.H., The Origin of English Place-Names, RKP: London 1976.
  4. Smith, A.H., English Place-Name Elements – volume 1, Cambridge University Press 1956.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian