Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate

Found in 1883 in digging in the churchyard by the north-east corner of the cathedral, at a depth of 7 feet (2.15 m) (Browne 1880–4b, cxiii; id. 1897, 284; see also his unpublished letter dated 15 September 1883, in the Dean and Chapter Archives of Ripon Cathedral, MS Dep. 1980/1/104, held in Leeds University Library).

St Peter and St Wilfrid

Incomplete and more worn than it appears in Collingwood's drawings (1915a, 234).

The centre and part of one arm of a cross-head of type B9.

A (broad): The central roundel, enclosed by a simple roll moulding, shows the remains of a fine, delicate interlace with either a triquetra or a pattern terminating in a triquetra-like knot at the top: there is insufficient remaining to reconstruct the pattern as confidently as does Collingwood (1915a, 234, fig. a). The inner part of the arm is edged at the sides first by a roll moulding, then by a row of zigzag ornament, then by two further rolled elements which follow the outline provided by the central circle and the edge mouldings. The central of these elements is a single line, widening into a triangle towards the centre.

B (narrow): Part of the decoration of the edge survives. A roll edge moulding encloses a fine interlace, possibly a terminal of half pattern D with outside strands.

C (broad): There is no clear indication on this face of the decoration in the arm, except that it included an outer roll and inner zigzag moulding as on face A. The centre is sunken with the ground cut back flat, but the enclosing roll moulding is not perfectly circular but rises to a peak to accommodate the centre decoration. This shows one arm of a raised cross of 'spine-and-boss' form, with the spandrels filled by raised cross-arms of type B6, disposed diagonally. The arms all have a raised flat moulding enclosing a circular or triangular pellet. The centre of this composition has not survived, although the encircled boss as suggested by Collingwood is a probable solution.

D (narrow): Smooth, no trace of any edge decoration on this face

Browne, who was sent this stone for examination in 1883, believed it to be part of the inscribed shaft, Ripon 1, though the similarity between the 'spine-and-boss' ornament of the two is not as close as he says. He was right in believing them both to be early pieces, however (see below). Adcock (1974, I, 95–6) included this piece in a group of works with interlace, all from the Ripon area, which she thought followed on from the fine, filigree-like interlace such as that from Ledsham (no. 4a–b, Ills. 463–6), using the same unit measure but with a heavier strand. Although she believed this piece to be lost, and worked from Collingwood's drawing of the cross-head, the comparisons she drew seem justified. She compared it to a cross-head from Hexham, no. 9 (also known only from a drawing: Cramp 1984, pl. 178.944–5) which she discussed along with the filigree-related group. She noted that it is one of relatively few crosses which have decoration on the curved side surface: as she points out, this makes it more likely that the piece was part of a lower or side arm, in order for this decoration to be seen, rather than of the upper arm as it is usually reconstructed. Other related cross-heads also have this feature, notably Ilkley 4a (Ills. 345–7) and Masham 5 (Lang 2001, ills. 635, 637).

Ripon 2 is also important as evidence for development from the Adhyse cross type of monument (Ripon 1, Ill. 632), because it combines the 'spine-and-boss' motif with both the chevron motif and with interlace, and this development is also found locally on the Northallerton 5 cross-head (Lang 2001, 182–3, ills. 672–6). The Northallerton head also carries spiral scroll that compares very closely to Hexham-style plant-scroll, and has on its side a simple form of baluster ornament, which like the chevron also has metalwork connections (Coatsworth 1989, 294–5). This is also a very frequent motif on the early architectural fragments from Hexham (Cramp 1984, pls. 182.973–82, 183.983–95). Bailey (1996c; 2003) has pointed out the relationship of the Ripon piece to a whole group of cross-head fragments with chevron or pelleted borders: these include a cross-head at Jarrow (Cramp 1984, pl. 93.497–8), which also has the baluster motif as at the very bottom of Ripon 8, the 'altar pillar' or base (p. 238, Ill. 667). The chevron appears on a more recently discovered cross-arm fragment from Hexham (Cambridge 1995a, 108–12, figs. 33, 34; Bailey 1996c, 38, fig. 6a), and on cross-head fragments from Lancashire sites with early monastic connections, at Heysham and Lancaster (Bailey 1996c, 38–41, figs. 5, 6). The connection with early metalwork, including the Cuthbert pectoral cross and the Ripon jewel, is very strong (Coatsworth 1989, 294–5; Bailey 1996c, 41; see Ill. 860). Altogether, there is a very strong case for seeing this piece as dating from the time when Ripon was closely connected to other monasteries active in the production of sculpture, and in view of the Wilfridian connection, particularly with Hexham.

Early eighth century

Browne 1880–4, cxiii; Allen and Browne 1885, 353; Browne 1897, 284; Morris 1911, 417–18; Collingwood 1913, 169, fig. 3; Collingwood 1915a, 233, 270, figs. a–c on 234; Collingwood 1927, 94, 109, fig. 116.3; Collingwood 1932, 48; Adcock 1974, I, 95–6, 115n, fig. 22b; Bailey 1984, 85; Cramp 1984, 85; Bailey and Cramp 1988, 86; Lang 1991, 172; Hall 1995, 26; Bailey 1996a, 120; Bailey 1996c, 38, 41, fig. 5c; Hall and Whyman 1996, 149, fn. 158; Lang 2001, 26, 40, 43, 183, 241; Bailey 2003, 232, fig. 13c; Coatsworth 2006, 21, pls. 3a, 3b

[1] The following are general references to the Ripon stones: Allen 1890, 293; Collingwood 1932, 48; Brown 1937, 95; Mee 1941, 306; Bailey and Cramp 1988, 16; Lang 1991, 17, 84; Hall 1995, 15; Hadley 2000a, 235.

[2] The following is an unpublished manuscript reference to Ripon 2: Letter dated 15 September 1883 from the Rev. G. F. Browne to Dean W. R. Freemantle. Ripon Cathedral, Dean and Chapter Archives, MS Dep. 1980/1/104 (held in Leeds University Library).