Churchyard Cross at the Church of St John

Summary

Remains of a medieval churchyard cross, late C13.

Reasons for Designation

The remains of the cross in St John’s churchyard are listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* as a survival of the base and shaft 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 and partial shaft of a medieval standing cross, including detailing which contributes to our understanding of the regional architectural variations of the type.

Group value:

* the cross has group value with the adjacent Church of St John the Baptist, and the war memorial, both listed at Grade II.

History

The remains of the cross in St John’s churchyard are understood to date to the late C13.

Detailed studies have been made of these structures in Somerset, by Pooley, in the 1860s and 70s, and Russett, a century later and on-going. Their typical form consists of a set of steps, a socket and a shaft, which originally would have had a small carved head depicting the crucifixion and other scenes. The majority of such heads were destroyed either in the iconoclastic Reformation or the Civil Wars.

Early C19 illustrations show that the cross has moved at least twice around the churchyard. The earliest of these, by George Bennet in 1805 and Knight in 1823, shows it to the east of a path running due south from the south porch; this accords with the conventional location of such monuments in Somerset churchyards. The next image, published in the church guide but unattributed and undated, shows the cross to the west of the path, with an octagonal stepped base. It appears that the cross was moved again, possibly when the church was rebuilt in around 1824; a lithograph of 1829 shows the socket stone and shaft standing upon a square stepped base. The 1886 1:500 Town Plan shows it in another location, just south of where it stands currently. Then, by the publication of the 1903 Ordnance Survey, it appears to have been moved slightly north, up against the wall of the church where it stands today. The structure has been crudely embellished by the addition of cusped brackets to three sides of the base of the shaft, made of fragments of window tracery.

Details

Remains of a medieval churchyard cross, late C13.

MATERIALS: constructed from limestone.

PLAN: standing against the wall of the south aisle of the church.

DESCRIPTION: the monument has an octagonal socket stone with rounded feet on the ordinal angles. From this rises a square shaft with beaded angles. There are cusped brackets made from reused tracery, cemented into position, slightly oversailing the socket stone. The monument is approximately 1.5m tall, having been decapitated.

Sources

Websites
Churchyard cross, St John's Church, North Somerset HER, ref MNS12, accessed 22/10/2024 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MNS128&resourceID=1046
The Old Stone Crosses of Weston-super-Mare. YCCCART 2021/Y3, Yatton, Congresbury, Claverham And Cleeve Archaeological Research Team, General Editor: Vince Russett, accessed 22/10/2024 from http://www.ycccart.co.uk/index_htm_files/Weston-super-Mare,%20Documentary%20and%20photographic%20study,%20various%20sites,%202021,%20Y3,%20v.1%20.pdf

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