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Description

Reasons for Designation A standing cross is a free standing upright structure, usually of stone, mostly erected during the medieval period (mid 10th to mid 16th centuries AD). Standing crosses served a variety of functions. In churchyards they served as stations for outdoor processions, particularly in the observance of Palm Sunday. Elsewhere, standing crosses were used within settlements as places for preaching, public proclamation and penance, as well as defining rights of sanctuary. Standing crosses were also employed to mark boundaries between parishes, property, or settlements. A few crosses were erected to commemorate battles. Some crosses were linked to particular saints, whose support and protection their presence would have helped to invoke. Crosses in market places may have helped to validate transactions. After the Reformation, some crosses continued in use as foci for municipal or borough ceremonies, for example as places for official proclamations and announcements; some were the scenes of games or recreational activity. Standing crosses were distributed throughout England and are thought to have numbered in excess of 12,000. However, their survival since the Reformation has been variable, being much affected by local conditions, attitudes and religious sentiment. In particular, many cross-heads were destroyed by iconoclasts during the 16th and 17th centuries. Less than 2,000 medieval standing crosses, with or without cross-heads, are now thought to exist. The oldest and most basic form of standing cross is the monolith, a stone shaft often set directly in the ground without a base. The most common form is the stepped cross, in which the shaft is set in a socket stone and raised upon a flight of steps; this type of cross remained current from the 11th to 12th centuries until after the Reformation. Where the cross-head survives it may take a variety of forms, from a lantern-like structure to a crucifix; the more elaborate examples date from the 15th century. Much less common than stepped crosses are spire-shaped crosses, often composed of three or four receding stages with elaborate architectural decoration and/or sculptured figures; the most famous of these include the Eleanor crosses, erected by Edward I at the stopping places of the funeral cortege of his wife, who died in 1290. Also uncommon are the preaching crosses which were built in public places from the 13th century, typically in the cemeteries of religious communities and cathedrals, market places and wide thoroughfares; they include a stepped base, buttresses supporting a vaulted canopy, in turn carrying either a shaft and head or a pinnacled spire. Standing crosses contribute significantly to our understanding of medieval customs, both secular and religious, and to our knowledge of medieval parishes and settlement patterns. All crosses which survive as standing monuments, especially those which stand in or near their original location, are considered worthy of protection. The remains of the churchyard cross at St Mary's Church, Wainfleet St Mary, represent a good example of a medieval standing cross with a quadrangular base and octagonal shaft. Situated to the south east of the south porch it is believed to stand in its original position. Minimal disturbance of the area immediately surrounding the cross indicates that archaeological deposits relating to the monument's construction and use are likely to survive intact. Details The monument includes the remains of a standing stone cross located in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Wainfleet St Mary, to the south east of the south porch. The cross, which is also Listed Grade II, is medieval in date and is constructed of limestone. The monument includes the base of the cross and the lower part of the shaft. The base takes the form of a socket stone, the upper face of which is partly buried beneath the present ground surface and measures about 0.75m square in section. The remainder of the base is buried. Fitted into the socket stone with a metal band is the lower part of the shaft, rectangular in section at the base and rising above moulded and chamfered corners in tapering octagonal section to a height of 1.02m. At the top of the stone, which is flat, are the remains of an iron pin and clamps which formerly fixed this part of the shaft to an upper stone and cross head. The monument includes a 1m boundary around the cross which is essential for the monument's support and preservation.

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