Now in a permanent display area at the west end of the south aisle of the nave.

The church was restored in 1858, and pamphlets in the church state that twelve fragments of pre-Conquest sculpture were found in the churchyard at this time. Collingwood (1915a, 146) however, recorded that the stones were found at various dates and that no. 1, for example, was found between 1876 and 1888 in the chancel, under no. 6: in fact 'in the gangway between the choir stalls' according to Stavert (1913, 11–12), who briefly identified some of the stones and their findspots, without stating when or for some where they were found, although Collingwood records that he was the actual discoverer of four of them. No. 1 was for many years set up in the north-east chantry chapel. Speight (1900, 390–2) seems to have been the first to publish and illustrate some of the stones: he also mentions that he saw thirteen stones in the church (which may include one of the hogbacks which is in two pieces).

St Wilfrid

The head is broken in two pieces and the join to the shaft is not perfect. However, the gap is not as great as Collingwood (1915a, 147, figs. a–c, d–f) implied, since most of the lower arm is in fact present at the top of the shaft. The steps for the springing of the armpits for the lower arm are clearly present at the top of the shaft. The shaft is also broken in two. There is some damage to the sides and face C, but the surviving carved areas are in good condition.

A slender tapering shaft of rectangular section with a free-armed head of type B11. The head and shaft are outlined by incised borders within squared edges. The style of carving is throughout flat, the pattern elements and face outlined by shallowly gouged lines in which the tool marks can be clearly seen. There are traces of paint on face A.

A (broad): The side arms of the cross-head are plain. The crossing is filled by two concentric rings through which lace two strands that emerge to form a Stafford Knot (simple pattern E) in the lower arm (at the top of the shaft). One of the strands at the top of the central ring-knot stops against the outer circle. The second emerges into the upper arm to form another, side-facing, Stafford Knot which terminates at the top right. The shaft has seven registers of a vertebral ring-chain, with bar terminals at top and bottom.

B (narrow): The sides of the head are worn but appear to have always been completely plain. The side panel of the shaft has a very simple two- strand twist incorporating three loose rings with long glides between them.
There is a bar terminal at the top but the lower terminal is less usual: it seems the ends cross then terminate in a squared, space-filling fourth ring.

C (broad): The head on this face is damaged and appears to have some plaster adhering. There was a large central ring. The lower arm, at the top of the shaft section, is still crisp and clear and shows a Stafford Knot (simple pattern E) terminal as on face A. The shaft has an elaborated version of the pattern on face B. A simple twist with squared bar terminals threads through three double rings, increasing in size from top to bottom so as to accommodate the taper of the shaft.

D (narrow): Like face B this has twist incorporating loose rings (here five), but the strands are broader and there are no glides between the rings: what little spaces there are above and below the central ring are filled with, in each case, two loose pellets. The effect is tight and close-packed. The bar terminals at top and bottom are handled competently.

E (top): The top of the head and upper arms are plain.

The ornament, style of cutting, overall dimensions and discovery in proximity, as well as the geology, all support the view that these were fragments of the same cross.

The use of a single ornament on a large scale to fill a whole side is a late feature. The ring-chain represents Scandinavian taste – more specifically it is derived from the Borre style which is found in Scandinavian-dominated areas such as Cumbria and the Isle of Man (see for example Bailey and Cramp 1988, ills. 175, 182, 252, 301, 471, 554). Examples from north Yorkshire, for example on Kirklevington 5 (Lang 2001, ill. 417), are said to represent a local version of Scandinavian taste, and the same can be said of this cross, which has a very simplified version of ornament of a kind found, for example, on the Gosforth cross, Cumberland (Bailey and Cramp 1988, ills. 288–308). The loose rings in interlace also speak of Scandinavian or Scandinavianised taste. The free-armed head, however, follows earlier Anglo-Saxon fashion. It therefore shows a mixing of traditions.

Probably early tenth century

Allen 1890, 301; Allen 1891, 158; Speight 1900, 391–2, pl. on 391; MacMichael 1906, 359; Collingwood 1912, 128; Stavert 1913, 11–12; Collingwood 1915a, 146–8, 262, 263, 264, 279, figs. a–c, d–f on 147; Collingwood 1927, 148, fig. 167; Mee 1941, 91; Pevsner 1959, 152; Bailey 1980, 217; Bailey 1981, 90, cat. F7, ill. on 89, Lang 2001, 144, 215; Coatsworth 2005, 9–10, no. 1, figs. on 9

[1] The following are general references to the Burnsall stones: Whitaker 1878, 504; Browne 1880–4a, lxxiv; Allen and Browne 1885, 353; Browne 1885c, 157; Browne 1885–6, 124; Allen 1889, 230; Allen 1890, 293, 294; Allen 1891, 158; MacMichael 1906, 359; Morris 1911, 143; Collingwood 1915b, 334; Browne 1916, 50; Elgee and Elgee 1933, 218; Mee 1941, 91; Pevsner 1959, 152; Lang 1984, 88.