Volume I: County Durham and Northumberland

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Current Display: Dinsdale 06, Durham Forward button Back button
Overview
Present Location
Built into east wall of church porch, inside
Evidence for Discovery
First mentioned in 1888. Said to have been found in earlier restoration of church, probably that of 1875
Church Dedication
St John the Baptist
Present Condition
Broken but unworn
Description

Only two carved faces are visible.

A (broad): Edged with a flat-band moulding with projecting chamfer separating shaft and head. Above the horizontal moulding is a crude ring-knot with median-incised strands. Below are what may be two birds with a stem between, or a bird on the left and a leaf on the right. The background is finely pecked.

B (narrow): The curve of the arm is plain. Below, a fragment of median-incised plait or plant-scroll is set in a flat-band moulding.

Discussion

The same finely pecked background is found on 2, but the differences in mouldings argue against their being part of the same cross (see 7). The motif of the birds and scroll is an interesting survival. In type, the birds are like Ilkley (Collingwood 1927, fig. 62).

Date
First half of tenth century
References
Brock 1888, 176-7, fig. 4; Boyle 1892, 661; Hodges 1894, 78-9; Hodges 1905, 224; Hodgkin 1913, 186
Endnotes

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