EARLY CHRISTIAN ART AND INSCRIPTIONS 



Barnack. — In the interior of the tower of the church, in the west wall, part of a cross 

 shaft is built in, having a four-cord plait on it. On the outer face of the same wall is another small 

 piece of similar work. 



Brixworth. — Built into the west jamb of the south doorway of the nave is the arm of a cross 

 on which is carved in low relief an eagle with wings outspread on each side of its head. 



Burton Latimer. — In the tower of the church is a stone with plaitwork. 



Castor. — See below. 



Clapton. — Part of the label of the thirteenth-century chancel arch of the old church, destroyed 

 in 1864, was a stone with plaitwork carving. 



Desborough. — Two fragments of cross-shafts were found here. One is 2 feet 4 inches long 

 by I foot j^ inches wide by I foot 3^ inches thick, with cable moulding on the angles. 



On the front are two panels, the upper one containing two beasts back to back, with a human 

 head between them. The lower panel has two twisted bands with a ring in the centre, the bands 

 ending in Stafford knots. On the right side of the stone are two beasts, one below the other ; the 

 lower has a knotted tail and a piece of interlaced work passing round the neck in a loop, then on 

 each side of the body, forming a Stafford knot below the belly. Blank spaces in the field in both 

 cases are filled with circular bosses. 



The second fragment, which may belong either to a cross shaft or to a slab, being i foot 

 8 inches long by I foot 6^ inches wide and 4 inches thick, is carved on one face only, with two 

 twisted bands combined with circular rings. 



Earls Barton. — See below. 



Gunwade Ferry. — Part of a cross-head with expanded arms. 



Helpston.i — (i) A piece of a grave-slab like those at Peterborough, described below. 



(2) A headstone with a circular cross. 



Longthorpe. — In a cottage garden at the east end of the village, in an angle formed by the 

 main road and a side path, is a cross-shaft 6 feet 9 inches high, standing in a base 2 feet 6 inches 

 square. The shaft tapers from I foot 5 inches by 10 inches at bottom to I foot 3 inches by 

 8 inches at top, and on one of the narrow faces has a four-cord plait of angular plaitwork. Other- 

 wise it is plain. 



Lutton. — In the north wall of the church tower is part of a cross-slab with panels of interlaced 

 work. 



Mears Ashby. — A cross-head of Celtic form, i foot 4.^ inches in diameter. The arms are 

 expanded, and their ends connected by a circular ring, the intervals being pierced with round holes 

 I J inches in diameter. The edges are moulded, and both faces are covered with interlaced work of 

 debased style. A tenon is worked on the head. 



Moreton. — In the church is a piece of a cross shaft 2 feet 2h inches long, having on the front 

 a beast with paw raised, biting his tail, and below him a double row of spiral knots. On one side 

 of the shaft is a double row of spiral knots in a continuous band. 



Moulton. — Fragment of cross-shaft. See below. 



Nassington. — In the church is part of a cross-shaft 2 feet 9 inches long, having on the front 

 the lower part of a human figure, and below it a crucifixion, with Sol and Luna above the arms of the 

 cross, and below two soldiers with the spear and the sponge on a reed. On the back a circular 

 knot is repeated four times ; on the right side is a band of figure-of-eight knots, and on the left a 

 foliage pattern consisting of an undulating stem with short branches and fruit in the hollows. 



Northampton St. Peter. — In the Northampton museum are two fragments of cross-shafts, 

 which, till the restoration of the church in 1850, served as bases to the west responds of the nave 

 arcades. 



On one is a panel of interlaced work composed of a series of figure-of-eight knots. On one 

 side of the same stone is a defaced foliage pattern. 



On the second is some much-damaged conventional foliage. 



Peakirk. — A piece of a cross-shaft i foot 9 inches high. On the front is a dragon with inter- 

 laced tail, on the back another with knotted tail ; on the right side is foliage, and on the left a 

 beast, much damaged. This is in the ' Hermitage ' chapel, now used as a reading-room. 



Peterborough. — See below. 



Stow Nine Churches. — Two fragments of cross-shafts. The first, 2 feet 3 inches high, 

 has cable mouldings on all its angles. On the front is an interlaced band of six-cord plait, and a 

 double band of figure-of-eight knots, with four-cornered knots at intervals — a very unusual pattern ; 

 on the back is some defaced foliage ; on the right side the looped tail of a dragon (?), and on the 

 left the ornament has been dressed off. The second fragment is only I of inches high, and has a 

 pattern of spiral knots on one face only. 



1 'Joum. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xlv. 179. 

 189 



