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Object type: Four joining fragments of capital
Measurements: (reconstructed): H. 12 cm (4.75 in); W. 16.5 cm (6.5 in) D. 9 cm (3.6 in)
Stone type: Hartlepool and Roker dolomite
Plate numbers in printed volume: Pl. 110.601-603
Corpus volume reference: Vol 1 p. 126-127
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Only one face is carved – with a relief spiral which comes to a V-shaped point in the centre. The other faces are dressed smoothly.
This seems to be half of an Ionic capital which was probably set against a wall rather than being free-standing. It was found together with broken fragments of a baluster shaft in the reconstruction levels of the monastic buildings. It could, therefore, have been used in one of the openings of these structures. It is so far unique in Anglo-Saxon England and it is difficult to point to contemporary parallels. It is possible that it is directly copying an antique model, although pilaster cappings are known from the Poitiers baptistery (Hubert, Porcher and Volbach 1969, pl. 52).
