The Corpus: Alstonefield 03

Volume 13: Derbyshire and Staffordshire

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Current Display: Alstonefield 03, Staffordshire

Overview

Object type: Part of shaft [1]

Measurements: H. 68 cm (26.7 in); W. 21 cm (8.2 in); D. 18 cm (7 in)

Stone type: Medium grained, pink, feldspathic sandstone with haematite staining. Namurian sandstone consistent with Roaches or Ashover Grit, Marsden Formation, Millstone Grit Group, Carboniferous (R.T.)

Plate numbers in printed volume: Ills. 487–9

Corpus volume reference: Vol 13 p. 267

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Present Location

Inside the church at the west end of the north aisle

Evidence for Discovery

See Alstonefield 1.

Church Dedication

St Peter

Present Condition

This stone has been dressed to render it, most likely, as a window component. It is triangular in section, so the decoration survives on only two faces, albeit damaged and worn through reuse, subsequent storage and handling and weathering, suggesting exposure to the elements at some stage.

Description

A (broad): Damaged with the decoration truncated at each end of the stone, and on one side through subsequent dressing-off. The surviving decoration forms a two-stranded simple interlace with closed rings over the intersections of the strands.

B (narrow): With the decoration truncated at each end of the stone, this face is, again, damaged on one side through subsequent dressing-off. The surviving pattern comprises a mirrored turned pattern formed from two strands. It has a series of Stafford knots (simple pattern E: Cramp 1991, fig. 23) set at regular intervals along the interlace.

C (broad) and D (narrow): Dressed off to create a flat surface with a chamfered edge on one side

Discussion

Part of a rectangular cross-shaft, the broken and badly damaged condition of the stone mean that the surviving decoration consists only of interlace, which is ubiquitous to the region and elsewhere. The Stafford knots on B, for instance, are not exclusive to the county, being found elsewhere, in Derbyshire for instance (e.g. Bakewell 30). As with many pieces in this region, the decoration has irregular measurements suggesting that the craftsperson may not have been highly skilled.

Date

Possibly tenth century

References

Pape 1945–6, 26; Pape 1946–7, 22–3, fig. on 22; Steele 1947–8a, 119; Sidebottom 1994, 148, 216 (Alstonefield 2)

P.S.

Endnotes

[1] The following are non-specific references to monuments at Alstonefield: Purchas 1898–9, 87; (—) 1900, 196; (—) 1914–15, 204; (—) 1930–1, 163; Pape 1930–1, 145–6; (—) 1934–5, 85; Steele 1947–8a, 119; Steele 1947–8b, 173; Butler 1964, 112; Fisher 1968, 57; Pevsner 1974, 54–5; Plunkett 1984, 145–9, 285; Leonard 1995, 71; Greenslade 1996b, 21, 23–4; Sharpe 2002, 58