97 



laotfs on ^i»o ^vc=i^ormau (lEvogs Sl^afts 



fouutr at i^orljuvg, ^evi^gstjire, 



in 1902. 



By J. RoMiLLY Allen, F.S.A. 



|HE village of Norbury, Derbyshire, is situated on the 

 south-east side of the river Dove, about half-way 

 between Rocester and Ashbourne. The church is 

 five minutes' walk ui^hill from the railway station. 

 The two pre-Norman cross-shafts, which are hereafter 

 described, were found at the end of 1902, during the restoration 

 of the church, built into the foundations of one of the buttresses 

 of the north wall of the chancel. The north-east corner of 

 the chancel is .supported by two buttresses — one against the 

 east wall, and the other against the north wall. The buttress 

 into which the cross-shafts were built is the one next to the 

 corner buttress on the west side of it. The foundations of 

 this buttress were about 6 ft. deep, and the cross-shafts were 

 found I ft. 6 ins. above the bottom. The longer cross-shaft 

 formed one of the face stones on the west side of the buttress, 

 and the shorter one occupied a similar position on the east 

 side. The outer ends of the cross-shafts formed the two 

 corners of the buttress, and the inner ends were bonded into 

 the north wall of the chancel. The information here given 

 was kindly supplied by the contractor for the restoration, Mr. 

 William Gould, of Tutbury. 



The Gothic architects seem to have had a very wholesome 

 contempt for the art of their predecessors ; so much so, that 

 they felt no scruple whatever in chopping up an Anglo-Saxon 

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