EARLY CHRISTIAN ART 



i foot long by 9 inches wide. The inscription, which is in Anglian runes and incomplete, 

 reads : 



. . . . G H O .... 

 ....HELG.... 



BtACKWELL. 1 Standing in the churchyard here on the south side is a cross-shaft 4 feet 

 1 1 inches high by I foot 3 inches wide by I foot thick, sculptured on the south face with 

 interlaced work composed of a spiral knot with an extra twist ; on the north face with inter- 

 laced work composed of knot No. 4 placed alternately facing right and left j on the west 

 face with a six-cord plait having horizontal breaks along each of the outer edges ; and on the 

 east face with interlaced work composed of Stafford knots with extra bands interwoven, as on 

 cross-shaft No. 2 at Norbury, except that the knots face in a different direction. 



BRADBOURNE. When I visited Bradbourne in July 1885 there was to be seen standing 

 in the churchyard the lower part of the shaft of a cross 3 feet high by i foot 8 inches 

 thick. It is sculptured on the front (facing south) with the Crucifixion, having Sol and Luna 

 at each side of the top arm of the cross, and the soldiers holding the spear and sponge on 

 each side of the shaft below. On the back (facing north) are two round-headed panels, the 

 upper one containing two saints with books, placed side by side ; and the lower one a saint 

 holding a book and a bird perched on his right shoulder. Above his left shoulder is a rect- 

 angular object. The other two sides (facing east and west) are decorated with scrolls of 

 foliage, and an archer at the bottom in each case shooting an arrow upwards. 



At the time of my visit the remainder of the shaft, split vertically into two portions, 

 was used as the jambs for the style in the wall of the churchyard. In August 1886 the two 

 fragments were removed from the wall and placed together on the top of the stump of the 

 shaft in the churchyard, when it was seen that the designs on all four faces were continuous. 

 Above the Crucifixion on the south face are three or four panels of figure sculpture too 

 defaced for the subjects to be made out. On the upper part of the north face are two panels 

 containing pairs of figures much damaged. The continuation of the east and west faces shows 

 that the archer at the bottom is in each case shooting at men and beasts involved in the scrolls 

 of the foliage. The upper part of the shaft is over 4 feet high, which added to the three 

 feet of the stump makes the total height of the shaft 7 feet. One of the pieces which had 

 been removed to Tissington Hall was brought back at the same time that the upper part of 

 the shaft was relieved from doing duty as the jambs of the stile in the churchyard wall. It is 

 decorated with figures of angels on the end and one side, and with interlaced work on the top 

 and bottom. 



The Bradbourne cross is described by the bishop of Bristol in Arch. Journ. xlv. 7: It 

 was mainly owing to his exertions, assisted by Mr. Albert Hartshorne, that the restoration of 

 this interesting monument was brought about. 



DARLEY DALE.* A fragment of a cross-shaft found during the restoration of Darley 

 Dale church in 1854 is now in the Sheffield museum. It is i foot 7 inches long by i foot 

 3 inches wide by 1 1 inches thick. On one of the wide faces is a plait and ring pattern, and 

 on the adjoining narrow face a twist and ring pattern. 



In the outer walling of the church, to the west of the south porch, is another fragment 

 of a cross, built into the masonry in a vertical position. It shows an edge of interlaced 

 knotwork and two rude human figures side by side. This fragment seems to have come to 

 light in a restoration of 1877 and to have been then placed in its present awkward position. 



DERBY, ST. ALKMUND'S.' When the church of St. Alkmund, Derby, was rebuilt in 

 1845 several fragments of pre-Norman sculptured stones were found. The most interesting 

 of these is a fragment of a cross-shaft now removed to the Public Free Library and Museum, 

 where it has been standing in the open air exposed to the disintegrating effects of the weather 

 for many years. It is 2 feet 9 inches high by i foot 2 inches wide at the top by 1 1 inches 

 thick at the bottom and i o inches wide at the top. All four sides are decorated with beasts, 

 those on two of the faces being arranged in panels with arched tops. On one of the faces 

 is a bird. Several of the beasts are placed in a characteristic attitude with the neck bent 

 backwards and the fore-paw upraised. 



Some other fragments found at St. Alkmund's are now built into the wall of the south 

 porch. One or two of the pre-Norman stones found when old St. Alkmund's church was 

 destroyed are now missing. Fortunately they were all drawn in Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. 

 ii. 87. (See also Cox's Churches of Derbyshire, iv. 1 2 1.) 



1 Journ. Derb. Arch. Soc. viii. 116 ; Cox, Churches of Derbyshire, i. 95 ; Reliquary, 1905, 104. 

 8 Reliquary, ii. 21 ; Journ. Derb. Arch. Soc. viii. * Reliquary, 1905, 106. 



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