In the site museum, Whitby Abbey (EH 81430737)

Except for two or three pieces (as specified), the sculptured stones were found in clearance excavations north of the medieval abbey between 1920 and 1928, conducted by the Office of Public Works. Some, but not all, were published in the excavation report compiled during the Second World War (Peers and Radford 1943, 33–47). Their discovery was not recorded in detail, but the surviving finds register (English Heritage manuscript notebook, Helmsley; British Museum typescript) gives some indication of context for a few identifiable pieces (Okasha 1971, 121–5; Cramp 1976b, 453–7, fig. 5.8; Cramp 1993, 68, fig. 7.1). See Table 3 and Fig. 19. No. 1 may possibly be the 'fragment[s] of stone cross (incised)', found 1 April 1924, 'at bottom of Well, no. 5' (Whitby finds register, nos. 496, 497). The wells shown on the published plan (Peers and Radford 1943, pl. XXXI) are not numbered, but cluster in the area north of the north transept which was excavated prior to November 1924 when the site was gridded (see Cramp 1976b, 454). The two cross-bases were also found in this area (p. 265).

St Peter and St Hilda

In six pieces, unworn; partly reconstructed. The upper arm is missing.

A (broad) : The top of the shaft and two limbs of the cross survive. The cross-head is of type A10 with wide curves to the arm-pits and squared tips to the expanding arms. The plain surface is outlined by a double roll moulding: on the cross-head both beads are 1.8 cm wide, but on the shaft the outer one is 2.6 cm and the inner 1.8 cm. Within the mouldings the tips of the cross-arms are angled. Just below the curved armpits the mouldings turn in sharply to form a narrow junction between a splayed lower arm defined by the mouldings and the rest of the shaft. At the same level as the indented mouldings the sides of the shaft are nicked. The rest of the face is plain, and very smoothly dressed.

B (narrow) : Plain and smoothly dressed. A few centimetres below the curve of the arm-pit is a deeply incised horizontal groove.

C (broad) : As face A. Not currently visible.

D (narrow) : As face B.

The restrained, almost ascetic quality of this cross is typical of the early series of monuments from the site (Chap. VI, pp. 39–40). The widely curving arm-pits and straight tipped arms are common features here (Fig. 10, p. 40). This particular cross uses roll mouldings to convey the appearance of an equal-armed cross surmounting a shaft, with the horizontal grooves on the narrow faces reinforcing that impression. The smooth dressing may have been accomplished by an abrasive stone. The condition of this fine dressing suggests that the cross originally stood indoors, but not against a wall since faces A and C are both carved. The reconstruction of the cross by Peers and Radford (1943, fig. 1) differs from that of the current museum display where it now has two lateral arms and no upper limb.

Late seventh to early eighth century

Peers and Radford 1943, 36, fig. 1, 37, no. 7; Lang 1991, 25, 141

[1] The following are general references to the Whitby stones: Hood 1927, 38, 45, 49; Kendall 1932, 9–10, 26–7, 28; Peers and Radford 1943, 33–40; Clapham 1952, 11; Wilson, D. 1964, 9; Cramp 1965b, 4; Fellows-Jensen 1972, 218; Cramp 1976a, 228; Cramp 1976b, 455–7; Rahtz 1976, 460; Cramp 1978a, 7; Bailey 1980, 81, 82; Okasha 1983, 118; Cramp 1984, 9, 79, 109, 180, 222; Higgitt 1986b, 130–1, 134, 148; Bailey and Cramp 1988, 55, 56, 85, 154; Cramp 1989, 223; Lang 1989a, 67; Lang 1990a, 2–3; Higgitt 1991, 45; Lang 1991, 24, 109, 138, 139; Cramp 1992, 8, 24, 107, 224, 252; Okasha 1992, 84; Cramp 1993, 68–9, 71; Fellows-Jensen 1995, 177; Higgitt 1995, 229–36; Rahtz 1995, 7–8; Bailey 1996a, 50–1, 111; Hawkes 1999b, 403, 410–16; Karkov 1999, 133–4; Stocker 2000, 200; Stopford 2000, 102, 104.