The Corpus: Whalley 08

Volume 9: Cheshire and Lancashire

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Current Display: Whalley 08, Lancashire

Overview

Object type: Fragment of shaft [1]

Measurements: H. 64.5 cm (25.5 in); W. 41 cm (16 in); D. 10.5 cm (4 in)

Stone type: Yellowish grey (5Y 7/2), clast-supported, medium- to coarse-grained (0.3 to 0.7 mm, but mostly between 0.4 and 0.5 mm), quartz sandstone. The clasts vary from sub-angular to sub-rounded. Millstone Grit, Carboniferous

Plate numbers in printed volume: Ills. 690-3

Corpus volume reference: Vol 9 p. 250-1

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Present Location

Under a pew at the back of the church; formerly in upper chamber of church tower

Evidence for Discovery

First recorded by Browne (1887a, 14) as lying on the ground outside the south wall of the chancel. Still presumably in this position in 1906 (Taylor, H. 1906, 80, fig. on 75), it may have then been moved to the vestry by 1921 if it can be identified with the 'fragment of shaft now in the vestry' recorded by Wallis (but see Whalley 7). It could not be traced in 1989 (Edwards, B. 1989b, 34).

Church Dedication

St Mary

Present Condition

Both broad faces A and C have been almost completely hacked away, as has D (narrow) which has been re-cut for jointing.

Description

A (broad): Any original decoration has been lost, though it is possible that fragments of interlace strands survive in the lower left corner.

B (narrow): No border survives to the relief decoration on this face. The ornament consists of five and a half rings, each enclosing right-angled crossing bars; the vertical bar runs up the length of the shaft, the short horizontal bars run out to the surviving edges of the stone.

C (broad) and D (narrow): Lost

Discussion

The only surviving decoration, described as a 'buckle knot' by Browne (1887a, 14), is employed again within the region on two shafts at Prestbury (nos. 1 and 3) and on the hogback at West Kirby, no. 4 (Ills. 230, 238, 356).

Date

Tenth / eleventh century

References

Browne 1887a, 3, 14, pl. VI, fig. 12; Allen 1894, 17; Allen 1895, 152; Taylor, H. 1900, 20; Taylor, H. 1906, 80; Ditchfield 1909, 116; ?Wallis 1921, 11; Edwards, B. 1989b, 34 (no. 2); Reeder 1999, 18–19, fig. 9

Endnotes

[1]. The following are general references to the Whalley stones: Whitaker 1800–1, 31–2, 33, 37, 297; Whitaker 1818, 49–51, 250; Baines 1831–6, III, 178–9, 383; Baines 1868–70, II, 8; Whitaker 1872–6, I, 69, 71, II, 15, 157, 557, pl. facing 1; Croston 1884a, 4–5; Croston 1884b, 3; (–––) 1885b, 228; Allen and Browne 1885, 355; Browne 1885b, 156–7; Browne 1887a, 12–14; Jackson 1889, 34; Glynne 1893, 79; Harrison 1896, 4; Howarth 1899, 9; Farrer and Brownbill 1911c, 355; Fishwick and Ditchfield 1909, I, 5; Wallis 1921; Brown, G. 1937, 274; Tupling 1948, 6, 8; Edwards, B. 1975; Edwards, B. 1978a, 72–5; Fellows-Jensen 1985, 407; Edwards, B. 1992, 58; Panikkar 1994, 20; Crosby 1998, 30; Noble 2004, 75–81.

The following are unpublished manuscript references: BL Add. MS 37550, items 724–35; BL Add. MS 37551, items 76–9; Lancashire Record Office, DP 291/61–62 and 292/1; Lancashire Record Office DP 386/8.