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Summary

Spurrell's Cross stands on the Blackwood Path close to the intersection of the Owley-Harford track and the Wrangaton-Erme Plains track. It is a granite cross 1.37 metres high, with a restored shaft and head of a different granite with spurred limbs. The head is set north/south and the northern arm is missing.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1012238: Spurrell's Cross

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX65NE13
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 441138
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX65NE/30
• Old SAM Ref: 10551

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WAYSIDE CROSS (Late Medieval - 1401 AD (Between) to 1539 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

'Spurell's Cross (Stone Cross)(Remains of)' shown on 19th century map.

Page, J. L. W., 1895, An Exploration of Dartmoor and its Antiquities, with some account of its borders, with some account of its borders, 253 (Monograph). SDV344985.

Crossing, W., 1902, The Ancient Stone Crosses of Dartmoor (Monograph). SDV178385.

Referred to as 'Pearl's Cross' by Crossing in 1884. At that time, only mutilated head and one arm. Probably named after Thomas Spurrell of Harford (1634 wills).

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'Spurell's Cross (Remains of)' shown on early 20th century map.

Crossing, W., 1912 (1965), Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor, 72 (Monograph). SDV320981.

Gover, J. E. B. + Mawer, A. + Stenton, F. M., 1931, The Place-Names of Devon: Part One (Monograph). SDV1312.

Masson Phillips, E. N., 1937, The Ancient Stone Crosses of Devon: Part I, 307, plate 37, figure 13 (Article in Serial). SDV240502.

Spurrell's Cross. The head and one arm of a cross of octagonal section with spurred projections, the only example of this type on Dartmoor. It was re-erected on a new rough shaft by the Dartmoor Preservation Association.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX65NE13 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV175387.

(27/03/1950) Ugborough Moor, Spurrell's Cross. Standing on the open moor at the intersection of the track from Owley-Harford (east-west) with that from Wrangaton-Erme Plains (south-north) on the Blackwood Path.
In a hollow between rising ground and not visible from any great distance. Type B. Erected as a 'restoration' in 1954 by the Dartmoor Preservation Association, featuring new rough shaft. North arm is missing, but only example of a cross with spurred limbs on Dartmoor - other Devon examples at Stoke Fleming and Ermington. Cross set north-south, of pinitic granite of the type found in the valley of the Erme above Ivybridge. Much weathered. Spurring is a comparatively late development which may be assigned to the 15th century.

Masson Phillips, E. N., 1954, Supplementary Notes on the Ancient Stone Crosses of Devon (Fourth Paper), 190 (Article in Serial). SDV15725.

The Cross was recently overthrown and the ancient head was detached from the modern shaft. It was re-erected by the Dartmoor Preservation Association on August 4 1954.

Worth, R. H., 1967, Worth's Dartmoor (Monograph). SDV337618.

Starkey, F. H., 1983, Dartmoor Crosses and Some Ancient Tracks, 57-8 (Monograph). SDV345128.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, 31, Map 53 (Monograph). SDV337765.

Spurell's Cross repaired and re-erected on the northern tip of Butterdon Hill in 1954. The shaft is probably now a gatepost around the moorland edge. The only portions surviving being the head and one arm. Both limbs have unusual paired decorative spurs like the Ermington Cross and Worth suggested they were probably fashioned by the same hand, perhaps in the 15th century. It may originally have been put up as a guide post at the junction of the two tracks and the route northwards to Erme pound and the Abbot's Way. Another important ancient track from Harford Gate to the eastern side of the moor passed a short distance to the north.

Ordnance Survey, 2016, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359352.

'Spurrell's Cross (Remains of)' depicted on the modern mapping.

Historic England, 2016, National Heritage List for England, Accessed 04/07/2016 (National Heritage List for England). SDV359353.

This cross stands at the intersection of three routes and is closely associated with prominent prehistoric monuments, indicating the continuity of importance of the site through many centuries. Spurrell's Cross is the only example of a cross with spurred limbs on Dartmoor, a style dating to the 15th century AD.
Wayside crosses mark significant points or intersections along the routes which cross Dartmoor, though the crosses are of medieval or later date it is likely that some mark the sites of standing stones or markers associated with much earlier use of the trackways. Spurrell's Cross stands on the Blackwood Path close to the intersection of the Owley-Harford track and the Wrangaton-Erme Plains track. It is a granite cross 1.37m high, with a restored shaft and head of a different granite with spurred limbs. The head is set north/south and the northern arm is missing.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs, UG1 (Photograph). SDV363073.

(21/12/2018) Site photographed during condition survey visit.

Riley, H., 2021, Archaeological Survey: Ugborough Premier Archaeological Landscape, Harford and Ugborough, 16, 21, Figure 32 (Report - Survey). SDV364697.

Spurrell's Cross mentioned.

Riley, H., 2021, UG21 heritage asset database and gazetteer of sites (Report - Survey). SDV364699.

Visited on 29th January, surveyed and photographed. Spurrell's Cross: granite cross at intersection of routes across Ugborough Moor, set in large mound granite boulders. Cross head is coarse grained pink granite with one spur missing, 50 centimetres tall, 40 centimetres wide 20 centimetres thick. Shaft is less weathered than head, square granite pillar, 25 centimetres square, 113 centimetres high. Cross stands at intersection of well-used routes along and across Butterdon Hill ridge.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8770 - Archaeological Survey: Ugborough Premier Archaeological Lanscape, Harford and Ugborough

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