Now in alcove against north door of nave, inside the church. Previously in the rectory coach-house (Collingwood 1907) and the porch (Morris, C. 1976a).

Taken out of the fabric of the church at restoration' (Collingwood 1907, 413). The church was restored in 1850. 'In the nave are numerous fragments of ancient sculptured stones, of various periods' (Bulmer 1890, 635).

St Mary

Cut for reuse and patchily covered with cement

The section of the shaft which remains is competently carved with skilful detailing. The faces are enclosed by precisely cut roll mouldings.

A (broad) : Two volutes of an interlaced medallion-scroll which seems to spring from a double root, although that section is so worn that it is difficult to distinguish details.

The centre of the volutes is filled with pendant leaves and flowers, and where the double crossing strands intersect to form a new volute there are long triangular veined leaves. The strands of the scroll are slender and skilfully interlaced.

B (narrow) : The details of the interlace which fills this face are difficult to see because of the cement covering, and only at the base can one discern clearly the high modelled strands which are median incised. The design of this eight-cord interlace has been identified as turned pattern C (Adcock 1974, 106).

C (broad) : This face is filled by a bold plant-scroll in which the two surviving volutes (each about 15 cm high) encircle a six-petalled rosette with indented petals. Single triangular leaves sprout from each volute, and springing from the node between the volutes is a pair of indented buds. The bird head, noted by Collingwood at the base, was not apparent.

D (narrow) : Chiselled away, but traces of defaced interlace at the top.

This must have been an impressive monument when complete: the squarish shaft, the ornamental repertoire, and delicate detail of the carving invite comparison with some of the most distinguished Anglian monuments in the region, such as Easby 1 (Ills. 198–212), the Masham 5 cross-head (Ill. 636), Wensley 1 and 2 (Ills. 858–66), or Hackness 1 in Ryedale (Lang 1991, ills. 459, 462). The bold rosette scroll is a rarer motif than the interlace, but finds a near parallel on one of the shafts from Ilkley in the West Riding (Collingwood 1927a, fig. 62f). This carving may be by the same hand as no. 8 (see discussion below).

Late eighth century

Collingwood 1907, 271, 274, 283, 284, 288, 291, 292, 413, fig. b–d on 412; Collingwood 1912, 128; Collingwood 1915, 272, 274; Brøndsted 1924, 43n; Clapham 1927, 229n; Collingwood 1927a, 37, 110, fig. 48; Collingwood 1932, 50; Pontefract and Hartley [1936], 152; Cramp 1959–60, 14n; Pevsner 1966, 403; Adcock 1974, 106–7, 117n, pl. 21; Morris, C. 1976a, 145; Morris, C. 1976b, 11; Bailey 1980, 83; Bailey and Cramp 1988, 122; Cramp 1992, 11

[1] The following are general references to the Wycliffe stones: Bulmer 1890, 635; Hodges 1894, 195; (—) 1929–30, 60; Morris, J. 1931, 413; Mee 1941, 263; Cowen and Barty 1966, 65; Pevsner 1966, 403; Cambridge 1984, 76; Cramp 1989, 215n; Cramp 1992, 331n.