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iron collar, from the side of which four bars proceeded to the 

 upper steps, and thus it was supported on the column or pillar 

 01 the cross. Over this capital the cross was fixed. The whole 

 In-iiiL,' in ;i very mutilated state, and occupying a large space oppo- 

 witr the Jiain Inn, it was taken down about the year 17b-V 



Brief as this account is, it obviously refers to the cross now 

 standing in Oakley Park, and although since that period it has 

 become still more mutilated, it fortunately retains, in its principal 

 features, sufficent evidence to prove its identity. Assuming it to 

 be a work of the fourteenth century, this cross affords a good 

 illustration of the style of decorative art expended upon these 

 ecclesiastical monuments. It is however by no means perfect. 

 The only part of the original structure which has survived the 

 ravages of time, being the more solid portions, such as the pedes- 

 tal, shaft, and fragments of the capital. 



Differing from the ordinary road-side, or churchyard crosses, 

 which are so numerous in this county, it will be seen that this 

 cross possesses an architectural beauty not at all common in such 

 edifices. 



The pedestal is hewn out of a single 

 block of stone, three feet square by two 

 feet six inches in height, and presents on 

 each of its sides, a facade, ornamented witli 

 four deeply chiselled gothic arcades, sur- 

 mounted by pannelled quatrefoilg, which 

 are overhung to the extent of some inches 

 by a deep moulded coping. It rests on a 

 plinth which is placed on a heavy basement 

 step, too heavy to be in character with the 

 rest of the building. From the centre of 

 the pedestal springs a remarkably fine octagonal shaft, a solid 

 stone six feet four inches in height and one foot in diameter, 

 having rounded flutings at the angles, and the remains of four 

 broaches at the socket. It is conjectured, by the presence of 

 these broaches, that originally the shaft was set in a smaller block, 

 thus bringing the termination to a square ; which supposition 

 would render the design more harmonious, by taking off the ap- 

 parent abruptness of so small a column rising from so large a 

 pedestal. 



With reference to the capital, what remains of it is too much 

 broken and obscured by the growth of 

 patches of moss, to allow the observer to 

 do more than distinguish the mere rudi- 

 ments of the carvings alluded to by Rudder. 

 But I may remark, by way of example, that 

 on the under side of, and as it were sup- 

 porting the abacus, there are distinct indi- 

 cations of well-executed carvings of angels' 

 heads and wings, of which the wood-cut gives a good idea ; also in 



