

ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS 



uninjured sides all contain interlaced designs of somewhat poor and flat 

 character. 



Winston-on-the-Tees. In the picturesquely situated church here is the 

 greater part of the centre and side limbs of a cross head. On one side is 

 a circular boss which has had a ring of pellets around it. The arms have two 

 stags facing each other, and below the boss is a dog springing at one of the 

 stags. A line of pellets is carried round the margin of the stone. The opposite 

 side has the remains of a figure, with an object which Mr. Longstaffe 

 conjectures to be a gridiron, and the figure that of St. Lawrence, and quotes 

 a brass matrix of a seal in the possession of Mr. Abbott, of Darlington, marked 

 SAVNCTE LAVRENC. 1 Dr. Haigh considers the object to be a chair or seat 

 on which the figure is resting, and compares it with a similar object on one 

 of the Sandbach crosses in Cheshire.' The pellets in the margin are repeated. 



SONDIALS 



The county of Durham presents an interesting series of early sundials, 

 the only one of which now in situ is probably the oldest. This is on 

 the south side of the nave of the ancient church at Escomb. It is in the 

 south wall, placed centrally from east to west, but at a considerable height, 

 at the level of the heads of the two original windows. The stone on which 

 the dial is cut is 2 feet 4 inches long and i foot 6 inches high. The dial 

 itself is much less than these dimensions, and is defined below by a semi- 

 circular raised bead, while above it is encompassed by a serpent in relief, with 

 the head to the west touching the base line of the stone. The tail is of that 

 curious expanded form which appears on the serpents on the Monkwearmouth 

 doorway. 1 



The dial is divided into four parts by incised lines, and the hole for the 

 gnomon remains. Above it is a carved head projecting from the wall, which 

 is probably also in situ.* 



Cbester-le-Street. There is a fragment here measuring 13^ inches by 

 9} inches and 4$ inches thick, with slightly more than half of a semicircular 

 dial indicated by incised lines. A horizontal line defines the diameter of the 

 semicircle, and two parallel lines its circumference. The area has been 

 divided into ten unequal portions. The mid-day line and that three divisions 

 from it have a distinguishing mark in the form of a small semicircle crossing 

 the lines where they end on the circumference. 1 



Darlington. Here there is a stone with a dial cut on either side of it. 

 The slab is broken, but appears to have been 2 feet square and 5$ inches 

 thick. It was used as the sill of an aumbry, but is now detached and pre- 

 served in the church. It is described by Dr. Haigh in these words : * The 

 half quarter lines, not reaching to the centre, and the six concentric circles, 

 seem to invest it with a character of its own ; but I believe those only were 

 designed for use which are joined to the tide marks to define the length of 

 the mid-day shadow at the solstices and equinoxes ; the others are merely 

 ornamental additions. A mark will be observed, though almost effaced, some- 

 thing like the rune Daeg, in the same place as the Swastika at Aldborough, 



1 Arch. Mliana, vi. 24, with lithogram (tic). ' Ibid. 61. 



* BuiUiag New, Nov. 28, 1879. * lllus. Jrclxrohgiit, i. 128. 



1 Similar marb occur on dials at Inniscaltra and Kilcummin. Haigh, Tarki. Arch. Jount. v. 156. 



239 



