2a, projecting from the interior north wall of the nave near its west end, 2.5m above floor level, on top of a late medieval bracket decorated with high quality foliage of c. 1300. 2b, above Toft 1 and reused as cross-base in twentieth-century churchyard memorial situated to the south-east of the former church.

2a, no direct evidence. Though it was not specifically noted, the stone perhaps came to light during the restorations of 1891 by C. Hodgson Fowler, when Toft 1 and 2b were certainly found, and also later medieval fragments evidently including the Decorated bracket with which the stone is now associated ((—) 1891–2a, xii).

2b, found with Toft 1 during the restorations of 1891 ((—) 1891–2a, xii). It was built into the south wall of the church (Davies 1914–15, 221; id. 1926, 20) and was removed from there c. 1944 to its present location in the memorial to Mary Jesse Louisa Roach, d. 1944, and to Francis Handley Roach, her husband and rector of Toft, d. 1951 (bronze plaques on the monument).

St Peter and St Paul

The original decorated surface of 2a is good, with some weathering. The original decorated surfaces of 2b where they survive are also good with some weathering, but they have suffered patches of damage and erosion that have removed all decoration.

Stone 2a. A small fragment of a grave-cover decorated in low relief. Surviving decoration is limited to a double cable border or chevron band that presumably separated two panels. The part of one that survives is filled with a three-strand plait with incised medial line. Other faces are broken and damaged except for two recut edges forming a right angle, that indicate a secondary architectural use for the stone.

Stone 2b. Part of a flat-topped chest-like grave-cover of mid-Kesteven type decorated on its upper surface and one flank in low relief. In a secondary use, two adjacent faces have been recut smooth; the ends, too, are cut surfaces.

A (top): Of the two adjacent decorated surfaces, one – a part of the lid – is edged with a cabled border. Within the panel a run of four-strand interlace with incised medial line seems to emerge from what may be a cross-arm. The corner of the stone between this and one of the recut faces has been removed, perhaps as a rebate, in secondary use, but carefully replaced in stone in its final use within the modern memorial.

B (long): The second decorated face – a side of the cover – also has a cabled border. Within the panel the face is decorated with two horizontal fields of interlace of unequal size. The upper, narrower run is three-strand plait that develops symmetrically on either side of a 'bull's head' (Fig. 11) and out of its horns. The bull's head itself is emphasised by an incised noseband and by incised lines that cross over the nose and curve down the horns. The bull's head develops downwards into the broader lower field of interlace, interrupting it. The interlace of the broad field is ornamented with an incised medial line and consists of a four-strand run apparently incorporating free rings and pattern F loops. It, too, appears symmetrical. Under the nose of the bull's head the interlace is reduced to three-strand plait, which leaves two free ends that are tidily disposed of.

C (end): Recut, and used as a socket for the modern cross.

D (long) and F (bottom): Recut smooth.

E (end): Recut, and now concealed against Toft-next-Newton 1.

The range and layout of decoration and its workmanship make it certain that the two stones are from a large grave-cover of the mid-Kesteven type (Chapter V), and probably from the same cover (see reconstruction in Fig. 9). 2a may be part of a vertical panel from one end of a side, with a vertical chevron band dividing it from the long central panel. 2b is certainly the central part of a side with an adjacent part of the lid. Its bull's head is paralleled on eleven other covers in Lincolnshire and two in Nottinghamshire, most of them with similar incised details (Fig. 11). The asymmetrical fields of interlace are found also at Corringham 1, Lincoln St Mary 2b and elsewhere, but only at Bassingham 2 and probably Thurlby by Lincoln 1 without a dividing fillet. The neat handling of the narrowed interlace below the bull's nose is very similar to Burton Pedwardine 3.

The modern iconic reuse of stone 2b is especially remarkable (Stocker with Everson 1990, 98; see Ill. 382).

Mid tenth to early eleventh century

Stone 2a: Butler 1963–4, 112–13; Pevsner et al. 1989, 767. Stone 2b: (—) 1891–2a, xii; Davies 1914–15, 221; Davies 1926, 20; Butler 1963–4, 113; Pevsner and Harris 1964, 406; Pevsner et al. 1989, 767; Stocker with Everson 1990, 98