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Summary

Wayside cross known locally either as 'Goldsmith’s Cross' or 'Foxtor Mires Cross'. A repaired Greek cross set into a large boulder in an area of extensive tinner's pits. The cross head 0.55m wide, 0.4m high and 0.2m deep with slightly splayed arms. Its 2cms of shaft are smaller in section than the piece to which it is now clamped and connected. This suggests that a part is missing from an originally taller, tapering, shaft.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1002560: Cross NE of Nun's Cross

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67SW51
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443382
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SW/76
• Old SAM County Ref: 622
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX67SW51

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CROSS (Constructed, Medieval - 1066 AD (Between) to 1539 AD (Between))

Full description

Crossing, W., 1912 (1965), Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor, 108 (Monograph). SDV320981.

Masson Phillips, E. N., 1937, The Ancient Stone Crosses of Devon: Part I, 309 (Article in Serial). SDV240502.

On the moor south-east of Siward's Cross, near the head of Fox Tor Mire. Type A. Small Latin cross of rough rectangular section mounted upon a massive boulder. The arms expand slightly outwards. The cross is broken across below the arms and the upper portion is secured to the shaft with iron clamps.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1977, SX67SW51 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV263043.

(06/06/1950) The cross at SX61647015 is as described by Masson Phillips, the cross is 1.0 metre high and the arms are 0.5 metres wide. It is not incised, as was suggested in a publication by Worth in 1948; appears to be an inaccuracy.
(15/08/1977) A stone cross 0.9m in height set upon a large boulder, the head fixed to the shaft with iron clamps. Width of arms 0.5m. See photograph.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.

Fox, A., 1969, Swincombe Survey, 8 (Report - Survey). SDV250998.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit, S. Probert (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(06/06/1988) A repaired Greek cross set into a large boulder in an area of extensive tinner's pits.
The cross head 0.55m wide, 0.4m high and 0.2m deep with slightly splayed arms. Its 2cms of shaft are smaller in section than the piece to which it is now clamped and connected. This suggests that a part is missing from an originally taller, tapering, shaft.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, 222-3, Map 64 (Monograph). SDV337765.

'Goldsmith's Cross' is cemented in place on a natural rock. It lay fractured and unremarked beside the boulder which had been cut to take the shaft until noticed by Goldsmith in 1903 who had it re-erected in its original position.

Stanbrook, E., 2003, Ancient and Modern; Anniversaries for Two Dartmoor Crosses, 30-31 (Article in Serial). SDV263047.

'Goldsmith’s Cross’ rediscovered by Leutenant M. Lennon Goldsmith, who recruited four sailors to cement the cross back in the socket in 1903. Unknown to Crossing at the time he published his book on crosses in 1902, it was included in the 1910 edition of his 'Guide to Dartmoor'. It possibly marked a safe route across the bog from Whiteworks.

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

'Cross' is depicted on the modern mapping.

Historic England, 2016, National Heritage List for England, 1002560, Accessed 11/07/2016 (National Heritage List for England). SDV359353.

This monument includes a wayside cross situated on the lowest northern slopes of Crane Hill immediately south of Foxtor Mires. The cross survives as a Latin cross with a repaired shaft set into a socket cut into a massive natural triangular boulder. The cross measures up to 0.9m high and 0.55m wide at the arms. The shaft has been repaired just below the arms and is cemented and joined with iron clamps. At this joint the two shaft sections differ in width suggesting a section of shaft may be missing. It was re-erected and restored in 1903 by Goldsmith who found the cross lying broken beside the socket stone. It is known locally either as Goldsmith’s Cross or Foxtor Mires Cross. Further archaeological remains survive in the vicinity some are scheduled but others are not because they have not been formally assessed. There are several wayside crosses amongst this number which appear to be connected with the Abbot’s Way or acting as route markers around Foxtor Mires.
Despite having been toppled and broken and subsequently repaired the wayside cross 1190m ENE of Nun’s Cross Farm survives comparatively well and is in its original location. It has survived despite being the subject of iconoclastic damage probably during the Reformation and being located extremely close to tinworks in its immediate vicinity. It still retains its original importance as a way marker associated with both the Abbot’s Way and Foxtor Mires.
This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 10 November 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.
(Scheduled area shown 70 metres to the east).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8630 - Fox Tor Newtake Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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