Appendix B item (stones wrongly associated with pre-Conquest period)

Grave-cover built into the ceiling just inside the entrance doorway to the spiral staircase that leads up to the bell chamber. The oolitic limestone slab is worn and was broken in two before being reused. All the decoration is incised. The dominant feature is a large cross with a stepped base and stepped terminals to the head and cross-arms. Below the base are opposed, inward-facing spirals which sweep up from a circular 'boss' from the top of which rises a small V-shaped feature. The panels on either side of the shaft and the head of the cross carry simple outline motifs. In the upper panels these motifs consist of squat, 'L'-shape forms, with the vertical elements bent over and ending in rounded terminals. In the lower areas the items to the left of the cross are probably a short spear and a straight rod with a rounded end, while to the right there is what seems to be a kite-shaped shield above a horse-shoe shape turned on its side.

It has been suggested that the cross and the spirals at the foot of the cross might be of late Anglo-Saxon date, and that the other features were added subsequently. However, there is nothing intrinsically Anglo-Saxon in these elements of the design. Instead the entire ensemble forms a coherent, if rather rustic, thirteenth- or perhaps fourteenth-century scheme of decoration, and this seems a more likely date for this piece.