St. Patricks Cross

Located in a pasture field, bordered to N by a minor road; there is a church (MA022-043001-) and graveyard (MA022-043002-) c. 30m to N on the opposite side of the road. This cross-inscribed stone is named ‘St. Patrick’s Cross’ on the 1838 and 1929 OS 6-inch maps. It consists of a roughly rectangular slab (0.43m x 0.37m; T 0.009m) with rounded corners, on one surface of which is the incised outline of a cross. A shallow groove (Wth c. 2-2.5cm) forms the vertical and horizontal arms of the cross, which are roughly equal in length and extend almost the full width and height of the slab. The terminal of each arm expands slightly into a roughly circular hollow (diam. 3.5-4cm). The cross is now partly eroded and difficult to discern, although the incised grooves can still be felt/traced with one's finger. The slab lies horizontally on the ground surface, partly embedded in the sod. Adjacent to it at the W there is an inscribed stone (MA022-044002-). A remnant of an old field bank lies immediately to E of the two stones. There is a ringbarrow (MA022-045----) in the same field 70m to SE. Attached images: MA022-044001-_01.JPG Ranging rod lies on low bank immediately to E (at left) of the cross-inscribed stone. An inscribed stone (MA022-044002-) lies immediately to W (at right). MA022-044001-_02.JPG Incised grooves of cross are barely discernible Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 1 May 2019

This cross-inscribed stone likely dates to the early medieval period and may have Christian associations, potentially linked to the spread of Christianity in the region. It may have served as a waymarker, a site of local pilgrimage, or a memorial, with later folklore attaching it to St. Patrick.