MODERN CROSS

1900

Incomplete polyphant stone miniature Cornish cross, sub-rectangular in plan and rectangular in profile and section, missing most of the head of the cross, where just the base of the round Celtic-style cross remains. The cross was never completed as the lines on each side have been drawn out and defined, but not chiselled out as in the example below. The base of the cross is squared off and relatively narrow to stand upright, so it would probably have been set into a broader base, like the example below.Similar samples of polyphant stone (TRURI 1998.32.8) from Polyphant quarry and workings near Lewannick church, close to where this cross was found, show that this was made from local stone, and likely by the stone mason's that was based near the church also.A similar miniature cross made of polyphant stone in the 20th century is pictured here and was shown to the recorder by Andrew Langdon, an expert in Cornish crosses.