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Object type: Lower part of shaft
Measurements: H. 105 cm (41.3 in); W. 26 > 22.5 cm (10.2 > 8.9 in); D. 18 cm (7.1 in) above tenon > 14 cm (5.5 in)
Stone type: Fine-grained, well-sorted with sub-angular grains, colour very pale brown (10YR 7/3) . Possibly reused Roman ashlar from York, brought via the river Ouse; this could be a reused small Roman column. Certainly Coal Measures sandstone (Westphalian, Upper Carboniferous). [J.S.]
Plate numbers in printed volume: Ills. 525-6
Corpus volume reference: Vol 8 p. 208
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A cross-shaft, rectangular in section with rounded angles. This is the lower part of the shaft, and its lower half is completely plain on both visible faces, with a more roughly dressed area for insertion into the ground or a base at the bottom.
A (broad): This is dressed completely plain apart from the edge mouldings in the upper half, which consist of a plain outer border and an inner beaded or pelleted border.
B (narrow) and C (broad): Not visible
D (narrow): Dressed plain without edge moulding.
It is tempting to place such a plain monument with Lang's 'Plait and Pellet' group in York, which he thought the products of a single unambitious and unadventurous workshop operating in the tenth century (Lang 1991, 40). Although he defined these as sharing a very limited range of ornament, with small panels framed by lines of pellets containing plain plait or closed-circuit patterns, at least one included in the group, St Mary Bishophill Junior 4, is plain on all surviving faces except for its pelleted border (ibid., ills. 220–3). The scale of this piece is different, however, the plain surface is well dressed, and the cutting of the beaded border is much crisper. Although not as well cut, the heavy beaded border around the collar and lower arm of the head of Hexham 1, Northumberland (Cramp 1984, pl. 169.901–3), is a possible parallel, and within the West Riding the influence of metalwork techniques is also seen at Ripon (see for example nos. 2 and 6 (Ills. 637–44, 650–4), the latter of which has a beaded border framing part of a cross-head). Beading is also found on one of the piers of the arcade on Rothwell 1 (Ill. 682). An eighth- to ninth-century slab fragment from Whitby also has a pelleted border (Lang 2001, no. 50, ill. 1070). Perhaps the Little Ouseburn shaft, like Ripon nos. 1 and 2, is another of the transitional forms between the early, very plain crosses, exemplified by Whitby 1 and 2 (ibid., ills. 897–902), and the more fully decorated type. Little Ouseburn 2 below is part of the same or a similar shaft.
