33 



THE ORNAMENT ON THE EARLY CROSSES OF CORNWALL. 



By ARTHUR G. LANGDON. 



Although much has been written on nearly every branch of 

 archaeological interest relating to Cornwall, it is a remarkable 

 fact that until the reading of my paper at the British Archaeo- 

 logical Association, in March, 1889, on " The Celtic Ornament on 

 the Crosses of Cornwall,"* the subject of the ornamentation on 

 our beautiful monuments had never been dealt with separately. 

 Indeed, with the exception of the Rev. W. Iago's valuable 

 notices on some of the inscribed stones and crosses, and the less 

 important contributions from one or two others, the interesting 

 matter in connection with the early Christian monuments of 

 Cornwall, does not appear to have been very much considered or 

 illustrated in the Journal of the Royal Institution, in which, of 

 all others, such information might be reasonably looked for. 



This is the more noticeable when we consider that Cornwall 

 possesses a larger number, and a greater variety than any other 

 county of these curious — and in many instances beautiful — crosses, 

 made additionally interesting, not only on account of the evidence 

 they afford of the rude art produced by our ancestors, but also 

 from their association with perhaps the earliest introduction of 

 Christianity into England. 



"With the object in view of eventually publishing a work on 

 these crosses, I have for some time past been engaged (when 

 opportunity afforded), in forming a collection of measured 

 drawings embracing the several varieties, and in making a 

 special study of the sculptured crosses. 



Having completed a series of the latter, I have been 

 enabled to arrange an analysis of the patterns, side by side 

 with corresponding examples occurring in Great Britain and 

 Ireland. The task though not an easy one, proved to be 

 extremely interesting, and the paper embodying the result has 

 just appeared in the Journal of the Association already referred 



* Journal Brit. Arch. Assoc, Vol. xliv, Part 4 (1888), p. 301. 



