The Corpus: St Bees 04

Volume 2: Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire-North-of-the-Sands

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Current Display: St Bees 04, Cumberland

Overview

Object type: Part of cross-shaft, in two joining pieces

Measurements: Unobtainable

Stone type: Unobtainable

Plate numbers in printed volume: 553

Corpus volume reference: Vol 2 p. 146-147

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Present Location

Lost (one fragment destroyed, the other reused as building-material)

Evidence for Discovery

One fragment discovered in church walling, claimed to be of Norman date, before c. 1856, and subsequently accidentally reused as building-material between 1864 and 1871; a second fragment revealed during restoration work in 1872, but destroyed immediately (Knowles 1876, 28; idem 1878, 97)

Church Dedication

St Bega

Present Condition

Unobtainable

Description

Knowles's drawing suggests that only part of one decorated face survived on the two adjoining fragments. Ornament consisted of a row of what was probably three-strand plain stopped-plait, with interspersed pellets, separated from another row of similar plait by a line of single-branch spiral-scroll.

Discussion

Spiral-scroll school (Introduction, pp. 33–8). The ornamental layout is closely paralleled on Unknown Provenance 1 and Plumbland 1, and may also be used on Beckermet St Bridget 2.

Date

Tenth to eleventh century

References

Knowles 1876, 28, fig. IV; Knowles 1878, 97; Knowles 1880, 144; Allen 1885, 354; Bailey 1974a, I, 47–80, II, 235, fig.; Bailey 1980, 25

Endnotes