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Summary

Wayside cross situated on a gentle south east facing slope overlooking Holne Moor. The cross is concreted into a cleft in a large granite rock, is of Latin type, stands 1.06 metres high and is broken into two parts which are now held together by iron bars. The head of the cross measures 0.28 metres high, whilst the arms are 0.69 metres wide and extend 0.18 metres beyond the shaft on either side.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019220: Wayside cross on Down Ridge 730m south west of Saddle Bridge

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67SE59
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443028
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SE/29
• Old SAM Ref: 28740

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WAYSIDE CROSS (Medieval - 1066 AD (Between) to 1539 AD (Between))

Full description

Masson Phillips, E. N., 1937, The Ancient Stone Crosses of Devon: Part I, 310 (Article in Serial). SDV240502.

Cross on Down Ridge. Horse Ford, near the Wolbrook, near a track from Hexworthy. Type A. A small cross of rough rectangular section set up in a socket cut in a boulder. The head and arms are secured to the shaft by an iron clamp.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1977, SX67SE59 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV218961.

(1950) Stone cross dimensions: 1.1 metres high, arms measure 0.7 metres. As described by Masson Phillips.
(14/07/1977) A repaired Medieval cross 1.05m high is on a gentle, south east facing slope at 390m above OD. The rectangular shaft is 0.30m wide and 0.20m thick and the arms are 0.68m wide overall. See photograph.
1:10 000 survey revised on PFD.

Starkey, F. H., 1983, Dartmoor Crosses and Some Ancient Tracks, 34 (Monograph). SDV345128.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP152142, 2/7/1999 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Wayside cross on Down Ridge standing 720 metres south-west of Saddle Bridge Cross is 1.06 metres high and is concreted into a cleft in a large granite rock. Stone is broken into two parts and is now held together with a flat iron bar on the west-south-west and east-north-east sides. These bars are held in places by two long bolts which have been inserted through the cross. Some erosion around the cross but appears stable. The rock into which it is inserted measures 2 metres long by 1.2 metres wide and is orientated north-north-west to south-south-east. This rock stands up to 0.5 metres high above the present ground surface. The cross stands 0.46 metres from the south-south-east end of the rock. Grass and some heather around.
The cross shaft measures 0.33 metres wide by 0.2 metres thick. The arms measures 0.67 metres wide by 0.25 metres high and 0.16 metres thick the head measures 0.31 metres wide. Prospecting pits, quarries and nearby roadway are excluded.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1993-1998, Dartmoor Royal Forest Project, S. Probert (Report - Survey). SDV346608.

(02/11/1995) SX 66017136. The cross on the SE flank of Down Ridge is as described in 1977.

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

'Cross' is depicted on the modern mapping.

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

The monument includes a wayside cross situated on a gentle south east facing slope overlooking Holne Moor. The cross is concreted into a cleft in a large granite rock, is of Latin type, stands 1.06 metres high and is broken into two parts which are now held together by iron bars. The head of the cross measures 0.28 metres high, whilst the arms are 0.69 metres wide and extend 0.18 metres beyond the shaft on either side.
Despite historic damage, the wayside cross on Down Ridge 730m south west of Saddle Bridge, survives comparatively well and, together with a number of other crosses, denotes the route of a medieval track leading across the moor between Tavistock and Buckfast Abbeys.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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