Monks' Dormitory, Durham cathedral, catalogue no. XXI

Fragment of crucified figure excavated on site of chapter house in 1874 before crossheads 5-8 were found. First recognized as part of no. 6 by E. Coatsworth in 1972. See no. 5.

Cathedral Chapter House

Broken

Only the horizontal arms of the cross-head survive. Head, type D11, is surrounded by a flat-band moulding on all faces.

A (broad): In the centre is a roll moulding surrounding a cross from which the figure of the crucified has been obliterated save for his left hand. Part of the body survives on a separate fragment (Coatsworth 1978a, pl. 2A). Below the arms of the cross are the remains of four frontal figures, the two nearest to the circular frame being squeezed into it. They are all swathed in pleated robes and have the same head types as the figures on 5 and 7. The figures on the cross-arms who hold shafted crosses and books are identical with those on face B of 5, except that on the right arm (where this portion survives) the relief feature between the inner figure and the roundel seems to be a bar rather than a triangle.

B (narrow): Two registers of closed circuit pattern D with bar terminals on the end of the arm are enclosed in a roll moulding.

C (broad): In the central roundel, enclosed in a roll moulding, is a baptism scene, as on 5, with the variation that the figure on the left has a halo and is shown with hands clasped across its stomach. Between it and the central figure is a free roundel. The cross-arms have the same pairs of frontal figures as face A; triangular features in relief lie between the inner figure and the roundel.

D (narrow): Two registers of pattern D with bar terminals on the end of the arm are enclosed in a roll moulding. The upper register is closed circuit.

See no. 7.

Second quarter of eleventh century

Fowler 1869-79, 238 and fig.; Fowler 1880, 386 and fig.; Greenwell 1890-5b, 129-33, fig. B; Fowler 1891-2; Hodges 1894, 77-8; Haverfield and Greenwell 1899, no. XXI, 80-1, figs. on 81 and 85; Hodges 1905, 227; Hughes and Faulkner 1925, xviii; Clapham 1930, 127; Porter 1931, 108-9, fig. 175; Kendrick 1941b, 8, pl. 3A; Kendrick 1949, 61-3; Talbot Rice 1952, 137; Cramp 1965a, 4-5; Adcock 1974, 341-3, pl. 171A-B; Coatsworth 1974b, 109-10, figs. 1-2; Bailey 1978, 173-4, 182, figs. 9.6-9.9; Coatsworth 1978a, 85-96, pls. 2A, 3B; Cramp 1978b, 123; Coatsworth 1979, I, 220-7, II, 13-14, pls. 90, 93; Bailey 1980, 249, figs. 74-7

1. The following are general references to the Durham stones. Allen (1889, 229) includes Durham in the list of sites with coped stones and hogbacks, but the chapter house discoveries were not made by them. He appears to be referring to the collection in the Monks' Dormitory. Greenwell (1890-5a, xlix) makes general mention of discovery of nos. 5-8; Boyle (1892, 267) mentions discovery of stones in the chapter house; Collingwood 1932, 53.