Cross Socket Base in the Churchyard of St Denys, Little Barford, Little Barford, Bedford

Summary

The socketed stone base of a medieval standing cross.

Description

MATERIALS: Limestone.

DESCRIPTION: The stone socketed base of a medieval standing cross is situated in the north-east corner of the churchyard of the parish Church of St Denys in the village of Little Barford. The cross base is of a single piece of roughly dressed limestone, octagonal in shape and approximately 570-590mm in diameter with a square socket hole in the centre of the top approximately 230mm across. The base is approximately 350mm high with the top edge chamfered on all sides. The socket is approximately 150mm deep. It is not known if the cross base is resting on a buried plinth as soil hides the bottom on several sides.

History

Standing crosses are free-standing upright structures mostly erected during the medieval period (mid-C10 to mid-C16). In churchyards they served as stations for processions, elsewhere they were used as places for preaching, public proclamation and penance, as well as defining rights of sanctuary, marking boundaries and some crosses were linked to particular saints. After the Reformation, some crosses continued in use for municipal or borough ceremonies while some were the scenes of recreational activity. Over 12,000 standing crosses existed across England but less than 2,000 are thought to survive. They contribute significantly to our understanding of medieval customs, both secular and religious, and to our knowledge of medieval parishes and settlement patterns.

The base of the cross at Little Barford is the lower part of a medieval standing cross which probably stood on a raised plinth. It stands in the north eastern corner of the churchyard of the parish Church of St Denys (listed Grade II*, NHLE 1114892), which is itself associated with the medieval village of Little Barford.

At the time of the Domesday survey (1086) Little Barford contained two manors. The larger, which had a watermill on the river, was owned by Ramsey Abbey from the C12 until the Dissolution of the Abbey in 1539. By the mid-C18 it was owned by a Mr Hutchinson and in 1829 the estate passed to Rev. William Alington whose descendants remained owners through to the C20. The second, smaller manor was part of the manor of Eaton (later Eaton Socon) and until at least the late C13 the Beauchamp family were lords of the manor. It was sold to Henry South in 1706 who later sold it to Mr Hutchinson, thus combining the two properties.

The medieval settlement appears to have been dispersed, but with a focus concentrated close to the river with the Church of St Denys, the sole surviving building of the period, containing fabric from C12 and later in the medieval period. A moat to the north of the church may have been the site of the medieval manor house and there are extensive earthworks in the fields near it and the church relating to associated settlement and cultivation.

By the mid-C18 the settlement consisted of a scatter of buildings along tracks leading from Barford Road to the church with others along the Road while to the south of the church was a manor house (referred to as the Old Manor), probably constructed as a replacement for a dwelling on the moat in the later C18. During the C19 a new Manor House was built to the east, the rest of the buildings near the Old Manor removed and the moat in-filled.

It is not known if the standing cross was originally in the churchyard or elsewhere in the settlement or if it has previously been moved from a different location in the churchyard.

Reasons for Listing

The medieval cross base at Little Barford is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest

* as a rare survival of the base of a medieval standing cross, a building type which contributes significantly to our understanding of medieval customs, both secular and religious, and to our knowledge of medieval parishes and settlement patterns.

Architectural interest

* as a good example of the base of a medieval standing cross, including the mounting socket and chamfered detailing.

Group value

* it shares group value with the parish Church of St Denys, Little Barford, listed at Grade II*.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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