DERBYSHIRE FONTS. 210 



compare.] Ijy the same writer in Vol. VIII. of the Jonnial with 

 those at liam, in Staffordshire, but the similarity is not 

 a])parent. The original cross of which the font at Wilne is 

 composed must have been a magnificent example. Some idea 

 of its proportions may be arrived at by a comparison with 

 Clulow Cross, near Macclesfield, which is 9 ft. 4 ins. high, and 

 one of the largest extant of its class ; yet the diameter of Clulow 

 is but 21 ins., whereas that of Wilne was 27 ins.; or with the 

 Saxon cross at Stapleford, five miles from Wilne, the base 

 of which is similarly elliptical and very nearly of the same 

 dimensions. 



Bishop Browne suggests that the figures whose lower 

 extremities are to be seen were, possibly, the four Evangelists, 

 bt. Chad (the patron saint of the church), and Our Lord, but, 

 ot course, this is pure conjecture. He gives the dimensions 

 as 82 ins. in girth at the top, and 77 ins. at the bottom, with 

 a height of about 22, ins. Fonts strikingly resembling this in 

 general feature, but without any ornamentation, are not uncom- 

 mon. A local example of Norman date is to be seen at 

 Brassington. 



The original cross was probably of much the same stamp as 

 the smaller of the two crosses now standing in the churchyard 

 at Ham. This latter is circular below, tapering towards a band 

 of projecting moulding about one-third of its height from the 

 ground. Above this the shape is oblong, the longer sides facing 

 East and West. At about two-thirds of its height from the 

 ground is another band of moulding, above which is a very 

 short-limbed cross head, much weather-worn. The carving on 

 this cross, however, is of the interlaced variety. 



Where and when the Wilne cross originally stood are subjects 

 for interesting speculation. Speaking of it and others of similar 

 design, Mr. Romilly Allen, F.S.A., says, "Judging from the 

 relative number of monuments of this class in each county, it 

 is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the type had its origin 

 in Cheshire or Staffordshire, and it is therefore Mercian rather 



