A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



Many of the crosses were no doubt erected in the ground without any 

 socket stone, but at Castor there is still to be seen in situ a finely ornamented 

 cross-base. In its general appearance it is not altogether unlike a Roman 

 altar. It is of Barnack stone, and is fixed in a step 2 feet 9 inches square. 

 The base is 2 feet 2 inches high by i foot loj inches wide by i foot 2 inches 

 thick. At the bottom is a moulded plinth 4 inches high, above this a band 

 of ornament i foot i inch high, and at the top a plain portion with curious 

 bulbous projections at the four corners. The decoration consists of interlaced 

 work and winged dragons, the tails of which form intricate knotwork. 



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Cross-base in Churchyard, Castor. (From a drawing by J. T. Irvine) 





The recumbent cross-slabs at Peterborough and Helpston belong to a 

 class of monument chiefly found in the eastern counties^ of England. The 

 one at Helpston is only a fragment i foot 6 inches long by i foot 4 inches 

 wide, with a plain band in the middle, and a plait of four cords on each side. 

 It was found during the rebuilding of the tower of the church in i860, to- 

 gether with a headstone having a circular cross about i foot 3 inches in dia- 

 meter on both front and back. In Peterborough Cathedral there is one nearly 

 perfect cross-slab of the same kind and a portion of another, which were 

 brought to light in July, 1888, in the course of the excavations necessary for 



1 As at Cambridge ; Rocicland All Saints, and Cringleford, Norfolk ; Ixworth, SufFoli: ; and Lincoln 

 (see Arch, xxvii. 269 ; Arch. Joum. xii. 201 ; Norf. Arch. xiv. 99 ; and Proc. Suff. Insl. Arch. iii. 298). 



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