Churchyard of St Columb's church, east of church

First mentioned 1853 in present location (Godwin 1853, 323)

St Columb

Monument broken but stable; ornament badly worn; situation fair

The head and part of the shaft of a rectangular-section cross. The cross-head, type E8, has wide-splayed arms, of which the two vertical arms are wider than the horizontal. The arms are linked by a narrow ring, type a. In the space between the arms and ring are three cusps, forming trefoil-shaped openings. The shaft, of disproportionately small cross-section, is plain, and appears never to have been decorated. All the decoration on the head is in very low relief.

A (broad): An incised edge-moulding runs all the way around the edge of the head. At the centre is a large, flat boss, possibly containing a small central hole, surrounded by a concentric, flat-moulded band. At the end of each cross-arm are two flat bands. Between these bands and the central boss, in each of the cross-arms except that on the left, there is a triquetra knot. The left cross-arm contains two linked Stafford knots (simple pattern E), set back to back. The ring has a central incised line, dividing it into two bands, whose line is carried through by the two bands at the end of each cross-arm.

B and D (narrow): Undecorated

C (broad): As face A, except that the carving is very much more worn. Only the boss and edge-mouldings are clear, along with the triquetra knot in the top cross-arm.

This is one of the small but dispersed group of crosses, characterised primarily by the trefoil openings in the head (p. 92). Other characteristic features of the group include the large boss, the widely-splayed arms with triquetra knots and continuous double moulding surrounding the head, the low-relief carving, and the narrow cross-section. The wide-splayed arms indicate a late pre-Conquest date, but since only the head survives it is impossible to be more precise. Crosses with heads of this type are considered as specialised members of the Mid and East Cornwall sculpture group (Chapter IX, p. 91).

Present perception of St Columb is coloured by the fact that the very fine and well-endowed church sits on the edge of a small and once thriving town, at the centre of a large parish. The status of the place can be attributed to the fact that from the thirteenth century both church and town were in the possession of the wealthy Arundell family of Lanherne, who founded a chantry chapel here (Henderson, C. 1957–60a, 81–6; Orme 2010, 171–3). It is possible, as Henderson suggests, that the church 'was originally within the episcopal fief of Pawton' (Henderson, C. 1925, 75), although nothing is actually known of its early history. While an earlier origin for this significant place seems likely, the cross is the earliest dating evidence for the church-site. It sits within a churchyard which has curvilinear elements and is dedicated to a Celtic saint: although since the church occupies a dominating topographical location, the churchyard shape may be because it is on the site of a prehistoric enclosure (cf. Preston-Jones 1994, 83), and it is also possible that the dedication was adopted from that of a holy well at Ruthvoes, one kilometre distant, allegedly the place of the saint's martyrdom (Henderson, C. 1953–6a, 86–7; Padel 1988, 71, 152; Orme 1992, 67–8, 125–6).

Eleventh century

Godwin 1853, 323 and fig.; Blight 1858, 30 and fig.; Polsue 1867, 236; (—) 1871–3a, xxviii; Maclean 1873, 353; Hare 1881–3, 140; Langdon, Arthur and Allen, J. R. 1888, 311, 318, 324; Langdon, Arthur 1889a, 319, 327–8, 330–1, 343–4 and fig.; Langdon, Arthur 1889c, 239; Langdon, Arthur 1890–1, 36, 53–4 and fig.; Langdon, Arthur 1891a, 301–2; Borlase, W. C. 1893, 184; Langdon, Arthur 1896, 395–6, passim and fig.; Daniell 1906, 388; Langdon, Arthur 1906, 438, 441, pl. XV, fig. 93; Sedding, E. 1909, 47, 63, 312; Hencken 1932, 279, 295; Ellis, G., 1952–3b, 30; Ellis, G. 1954–5a, 36; Henderson, C. 1953–6a, 92; Langdon, Andrew 2002, 26, no. 16, and fig.