MEDIEVAL GRAVE MARKER

1066

An early medieval limestone 'eared' grave-marker with a conventional 'X patee' form of cross. A number of Lincolnshire examples of this type of monument are listed in Appendix F of the Lincolnshire Corpus volume (P Everson and D Stocker, Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture V: Lincolnshire, Oxford 1999). They are found quite regularly in Eastern England and are often grouped according to their quarry source. This particular example may well derive from Ancaster.The usually accepted typology suggests that they belong to the first century after the Conquest in date, though they perpetuate a pre-Conquest monumental form. There is in fact an example of the earlier form, possibly 11th century in date, at Westborough itself (which is included as a Corpus item).