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Object type: Grave-cover [1]
Measurements: L. 177.5 cm (70 in); W. 54.6 > 51.5 cm (21.5 > 20.25 in); D. 12 cm (4.75 in)
Stone type: Medium-grained (with grains of medium sphericity), very pale brown (10YR 7/3–7/4) sandstone; good freestone finely bedded to top of slab; see no. 1; from North Yorkshire Moors, perhaps near Lythe (north of Whitby), which has carvings in same material.
Plate numbers in printed volume: 558-562
Corpus volume reference: Vol 3 p. 161-162
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A (top): The perimeter has a broad, plain moulding which contains a thinner one for the principal panel. This larger panel has a superimposed cross whose flat raised edging overlies the inner moulding of the panel where it is intersected by the lateral arms. It is a type A2 cross with right-angled arm-pits and an additional square at the intersection of the arms. Within that square is a recessed circle. On each side of the cross-stem is a run of plant-scroll in spiral scrolls. In the scrolls are small berry bunches and drop leaves fill the spandrels, often trefoil in form. Above the cross-arms are fourfold spiral scrolls arranged around a single pellet. Above the cross panel is a narrow one containing a tree-scroll motif, with two pairs of symmetrical spiral scrolls.
B–E (sides): A plain moulding, rather thin, runs along the top edge of the sides and down the corners, where it broadens.
Traditionally the 'King Ethelwald' stone, there is no evidence, and certainly no visible epigraphy, which would corroborate that attribution, though Frank (1888, 137) is worth quoting here: 'Mr Haigh . . . said, "For my own part I am satisfied that this is the lid of the coffin of King Oethilwold [sic], and as Lastingham was to have been the place of his burial, that Kirkdale is the site of the monastery of St Cedd." It is twenty years since the writer visited Kirkdale with Mr. Haigh, at which time several of the runes were visible, in one or more of the portions of the cross shaded in the engraving; now only one or two remain, which formed portions of the words "Cyning Oethilwold" '. The engraving is shaded on the ends of the cross-arms, and above and below the horizontal arms (Ill. 559). There is no sign of any inscription today.
There is a link with Lastingham in the recessed circle at the intersection of the cross which is probably the seating for a metalwork appliqué or semi-precious stone. The evidence for this is the chip where the filling has been prized out, as on Lastingham 4 (Ills. 582–3). A similar central seating is found on the related wall plaque, Middleton 9 (Ill. 694). The collaboration of sculptor and metalworker is noteworthy, a monastic milieu being a probable source.
The superimposed cross surrounded by decorative panels is reminiscent of carpet page design in Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts, though the choice of plant-scroll rather than interlace or zoomorphic designs is distinctive and more in the sculptural tradition. The type A arm-terminals and squared panel at the centre of the cross are paralleled in the Lindisfarne Gospels, fol. 2v, and the gospel-book formerly at Schloss Harburg, fol. 126v (Backhouse 1981, 34, pl. 19; Henderson 1987, 91, pl. 131), though the slab demands a longer stem than the pages. This cross form occurs at the Bernician monasteries: for example, Jarrow 10 and Monkwearmouth 4–5, co. Durham (Cramp 1984, II, pl. 94, 505; pl. 110, 600, 604). The position and function of the cross, dividing the surface into panels, lie behind the York Metropolitan School usage, more than a century later, in establishing a convention for the design of flat grave-covers: compare Minster 36–40.
The plant-scrolls are more formalized and less organic than those of Hackness 1, the nearest example of foliate ornament to Kirkdale. Despite the insistent alternating spiral scroll, some berries and small leaves do occur, contrasting with the ornament of the later hogback, no. 9 (Ill. 553), where geometry prevails over botany. A tendency to that transition lies in the terminal panel at the head of the cross, suggesting a kind of continuity if only through eclecticism. The panel in question may be a simplification of that below the paired beasts of Hackness 1 (Ill. 454). The longer, flanking panels carry plant-scroll which is much lighter and more densely organized than the delicate stems of Lastingham 8 (Ill. 608), whose Classical origins are more apparent.
It is impossible to ascertain whether the slab lay at ground level or surmounted a box shrine.
