Your bike in front of ye olde cross
- Thread starter FrothNinja
- Start date
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bluenotebob
Guru
- Location
- central Brittany, France
la Croix du Concile
I’ve struggled to find out much information about this cross, other than it’s a croix du chemin (ie a road marker).
It’s just off a quiet road between Pluherlin and Carlevaux and very close to the site of a former Roman temple (fanum).
This whole area is rife with crosses and calvaires which is perhaps why it’s not particularly noteworthy.
The GR38 (long-distance footpath) passes just behind the large slate upright before disappearing into the gorse bushes. My road bike took one look at the path and said “no chance” – I’ll explore it another day on one of the MTBs and see if I can get a bit closer to the site of the fanum.
I’ve struggled to find out much information about this cross, other than it’s a croix du chemin (ie a road marker).
It’s just off a quiet road between Pluherlin and Carlevaux and very close to the site of a former Roman temple (fanum).
This whole area is rife with crosses and calvaires which is perhaps why it’s not particularly noteworthy.
The GR38 (long-distance footpath) passes just behind the large slate upright before disappearing into the gorse bushes. My road bike took one look at the path and said “no chance” – I’ll explore it another day on one of the MTBs and see if I can get a bit closer to the site of the fanum.
OP
OP
FrothNinja
Guru
OP
OP
FrothNinja
Guru
Do they act in the same way wayfaring crosses did in the British Isles?
I did see the cinema but never noticed a mermaid.
OP
OP
FrothNinja
Guru
You were right next to it!
It's on the other side of the cross at the top. Think there is now a whisky named after her.
bluenotebob
Guru
- Location
- central Brittany, France
I guess they probably do (or did).
I've been told that stone crosses mark where significant tracks crossed - and that wooden crosses have a much more local meaning. They may indicate where something precious to a village was buried.
It's a theory and, although I'm not convinced by it, it is at least a theory.
Stone crosses litter the landscape here and I'm not persuaded that all of them mark where tracks/old roads crossed. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some of the crosses have been moved from their original location. A lot of the straight roads here were built in the 18th century as turnpike roads ... and perhaps some crosses were moved during their construction.
There are a couple close to you on The Causeway - do you know much about them?
OP
OP
FrothNinja
Guru
Most of our local ones mark routes. The theory is that they were placed in strategic positions where a traveller might be likely to lose the path.
There are a lot of socket stones around, and I suspect they only ever had wooden crosses in them. Wood would (forgive the unavoidable pun) have been easier to shape and erect. In times of peril they would also be a dash site easier to take down so the ungodly weren't guided to your settlement.
bluenotebob
Guru
- Location
- central Brittany, France
la Croix Marie, just outside the village of la Gaudinais (a few kms south of Ploërmel)
OP
OP
FrothNinja
Guru
Crailing - looks convincingly old for this archaeologist, but I have yet to find any info one way or another
a.twiddler
Veteran
MBIFO the former market cross at Over, Cheshire. Where the market once took place is now a primary school.
The actual cross
Why is the base so big? If you go round the corner there is a sealed up doorway. This was once a lockup for drunks and ne'er do wells on market days.
Why is the base so big? If you go round the corner there is a sealed up doorway. This was once a lockup for drunks and ne'er do wells on market days.
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a.twiddler
Veteran
A headless cross almost hidden by shrubbery on Tarporley Road opposite The Hollies farm Shop on the A49 in Cheshire.
The traffic is fierce here. Less than a mile away to the left there are traffic lights on the A54, and a couple of miles to the right there are traffic lights on the A446. I don’t think they are coordinated, so what happens is that there are bursts of traffic followed by lulls.
The first picture was taken near the entrance to The Hollies Farm Shop.
The sun was intense, with a lot of contrast between sunlight and shade. By scanning carefully from the other side of the road I could see a dark shape in the hedge opposite, at base of the thin straight tree to the right of the bigger tree to the left of centre.
Fortunately the hedge wasn’t in full leaf yet, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have found it. With the intensity of the traffic there was no chance that I could park the bike on the other side, so I waited for a gap, nipped across, and took a few photographs. It seemed to be the same sort of red sandstone base with a recess in the top to locate further stones or a cross as I’ve seen elsewhere locally, mostly obscured by shrubbery.
This is a scheduled Ancient Monument, one of four surviving which were originally marker crosses for travellers or pilgrims en route to Vale Royal Abbey which was closed in 1538 during Henry VIII's reformation of the Church.
The traffic is fierce here. Less than a mile away to the left there are traffic lights on the A54, and a couple of miles to the right there are traffic lights on the A446. I don’t think they are coordinated, so what happens is that there are bursts of traffic followed by lulls.
The first picture was taken near the entrance to The Hollies Farm Shop.
The sun was intense, with a lot of contrast between sunlight and shade. By scanning carefully from the other side of the road I could see a dark shape in the hedge opposite, at base of the thin straight tree to the right of the bigger tree to the left of centre.
Fortunately the hedge wasn’t in full leaf yet, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have found it. With the intensity of the traffic there was no chance that I could park the bike on the other side, so I waited for a gap, nipped across, and took a few photographs. It seemed to be the same sort of red sandstone base with a recess in the top to locate further stones or a cross as I’ve seen elsewhere locally, mostly obscured by shrubbery.
This is a scheduled Ancient Monument, one of four surviving which were originally marker crosses for travellers or pilgrims en route to Vale Royal Abbey which was closed in 1538 during Henry VIII's reformation of the Church.
a.twiddler
Veteran
Another headless cross, a little further East, in Longstone Lane, near Little Budwoth, Cheshire.
It is actually known as the Headless Cross, or Plague Stone, where locals may have conducted business rather than meet in a crowded market in times of plague. It consists of the base only, with an empty socket into which the original cross must have fitted. I took some pictures.
Ancient stone and more modern HPV Spirit.
This is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument, one of four way markers surviving from the time of the existence of Vale Royal Abbey which was closed down by Henry VIII in 1538.
Not too far away at the end of the lane, traffic on the A49 was rushing noisily by. I was not going to go there. At the time when these way markers were erected this lane would probably have been no more than a path suitable for foot travellers or pack horses, and the area would have been forested.
It is actually known as the Headless Cross, or Plague Stone, where locals may have conducted business rather than meet in a crowded market in times of plague. It consists of the base only, with an empty socket into which the original cross must have fitted. I took some pictures.
Ancient stone and more modern HPV Spirit.
This is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument, one of four way markers surviving from the time of the existence of Vale Royal Abbey which was closed down by Henry VIII in 1538.
Not too far away at the end of the lane, traffic on the A49 was rushing noisily by. I was not going to go there. At the time when these way markers were erected this lane would probably have been no more than a path suitable for foot travellers or pack horses, and the area would have been forested.
a.twiddler
Veteran
The Long Stone, near the junction of Longstone Lane and Shays Lane, near Little Budworth, Cheshire. About 700 metres West of the Plague Stone in Longstone Lane.
I’d looked up some information on the Long Stone, and far from being a neolithic remnant, it turns out to be the remains of a wayside cross, one of a series of markers for medieval travellers en route to and from Vale Royal Abbey, the site of which is nearby. The Abbey itself was dissolved in 1538/9 during the reign of Henry VIII but some of the buildings were incorporated into a later mansion and are now part of Vale Royal golf club.
Just on the left there is a structure of mossy stones, just visible beyond the front of the bike. The base is all there but all that remains of the cross is part of the horizontal part which seems to have been set upright into the base. I took a few photos.
A gratuitous shot of the HPV Spirit! The junction with Shays Lane is in the background.
There is a fourth marker near the village of Whitegate. I've not managed to find it yet, but when I do, I'll post it here.
I’d looked up some information on the Long Stone, and far from being a neolithic remnant, it turns out to be the remains of a wayside cross, one of a series of markers for medieval travellers en route to and from Vale Royal Abbey, the site of which is nearby. The Abbey itself was dissolved in 1538/9 during the reign of Henry VIII but some of the buildings were incorporated into a later mansion and are now part of Vale Royal golf club.
Just on the left there is a structure of mossy stones, just visible beyond the front of the bike. The base is all there but all that remains of the cross is part of the horizontal part which seems to have been set upright into the base. I took a few photos.
A gratuitous shot of the HPV Spirit! The junction with Shays Lane is in the background.
There is a fourth marker near the village of Whitegate. I've not managed to find it yet, but when I do, I'll post it here.
a.twiddler
Veteran
Finding the Salterswall Wayside Cross
Salterswall, Cheshire
Since coming across the Long Stone in Longstone Lane near Little Budworth I’ve developed an interest in finding other ancient roadside markers that have fallen into disrepair or have disappeared into the undergrowth over the years. The maps which I’ve looked at have been rather vague so despite having the map reference some of the sites haven’t been at the exact spot that I’d expected. So it was with the remains of the Salterswall wayside Cross. At the road junction which I'd estimated as the site there was nothing obvious.
I scanned around, wondering if with recent housing developments it might have been absorbed into someone’s garden. Across the road there were a couple of small “T” shaped concrete panels sticking up out of the grass signifying a water main. Just in front there was a dark shape made indistinct by the grass growing around it. I wheeled the bike across the road to have a look.
I pushed the grass away with my foot to get a better look. It was a square, or maybe oblong, block of reddish sandstone no bigger than about 2’ across with a depression in the middle but otherwise flat and level on top. It was mostly sunk into the ground. More stones might have sat on top of it once, each stone having a square cut out in them so that together they could support a stone cross. It seems likely from its location that this could have been part of the base of the Salterswall Roadside Cross.
This would most likely have dated from between 1066 to 1539 when such artefacts became less useful as markers to pilgrimage sites such as Vale Royal Abbey, which was a couple of miles away to the North West. Vale Royal Abbey was closed in 1539 under Henry VIII’s authority as part of his reformation of the monasteries.
I was rather pleased to have found this. I must have passed this way hundreds of times without realising that there was anything there. I'm surprised that there's no marker. It would have been easy for the utility company to have destroyed it bearing in mind how close the water main seems to be to it. It is actually a Scheduled Ancient Monument though most local people probably don't know that it exists.
After all this excitement came the mundane stuff. I set off back to the town centre to do some shopping, with a following wind.
Salterswall, Cheshire
Since coming across the Long Stone in Longstone Lane near Little Budworth I’ve developed an interest in finding other ancient roadside markers that have fallen into disrepair or have disappeared into the undergrowth over the years. The maps which I’ve looked at have been rather vague so despite having the map reference some of the sites haven’t been at the exact spot that I’d expected. So it was with the remains of the Salterswall wayside Cross. At the road junction which I'd estimated as the site there was nothing obvious.
I scanned around, wondering if with recent housing developments it might have been absorbed into someone’s garden. Across the road there were a couple of small “T” shaped concrete panels sticking up out of the grass signifying a water main. Just in front there was a dark shape made indistinct by the grass growing around it. I wheeled the bike across the road to have a look.
I pushed the grass away with my foot to get a better look. It was a square, or maybe oblong, block of reddish sandstone no bigger than about 2’ across with a depression in the middle but otherwise flat and level on top. It was mostly sunk into the ground. More stones might have sat on top of it once, each stone having a square cut out in them so that together they could support a stone cross. It seems likely from its location that this could have been part of the base of the Salterswall Roadside Cross.
This would most likely have dated from between 1066 to 1539 when such artefacts became less useful as markers to pilgrimage sites such as Vale Royal Abbey, which was a couple of miles away to the North West. Vale Royal Abbey was closed in 1539 under Henry VIII’s authority as part of his reformation of the monasteries.
I was rather pleased to have found this. I must have passed this way hundreds of times without realising that there was anything there. I'm surprised that there's no marker. It would have been easy for the utility company to have destroyed it bearing in mind how close the water main seems to be to it. It is actually a Scheduled Ancient Monument though most local people probably don't know that it exists.
After all this excitement came the mundane stuff. I set off back to the town centre to do some shopping, with a following wind.
