ORNAMENT ON THE EARLY CROSSES OF CORNWALL. 39 



ment is not to be wondered at, when we consider what it has 

 undergone, during so long a period. 



It is not, however, nearly so good a specimen of Celtic art 

 as that at St. Neot, for the ornament generally is of a debased 

 character, but since most of the work in Cornwall is of this 

 description, I have for this reason selected it as a typical example 

 of the predominating style. 



The shaft has entasis, and the angles are beaded, the front 

 and back having a second bead within. The top has been 

 broken, but not to a great extent, as most of the socket for the 

 head remains. By completing the pattern on the N. side (shown 

 on the drawing by the dotted lines), we arrive at a very fair idea 

 of the original height of the shaft. A tenon 1 is worked at the 

 bottom, and a roughly squared block of granite forms the base. 

 Unfortunately, like the St. Neot cross, the head is missing, and 

 I venture to differ from Sir John Maclean 2 in thinking that the 

 head is now mounted on the modern shaft in Lesnewth church- 

 yard. A head for this description of monument would, like 

 kindred specimens, be "four-holed." 



The dimensions are as follows : — Height including tenon, 

 7 feet 10 inches; width of shaft above tenon, 2 feet 3 in., taper- 

 ing to 1 foot 7 in. at the top ; thickness, 1 1 in. at the bottom, 

 tapering slightly upwards. All four sides are divided into panels, 

 but without a separating bead between them, and are sculptured 

 as follows : — 



S. Side. This is divided into two unequal panels, the 

 lower one being carried to within about 1 foot of the top, and 

 containing a serpentine band similar to the examples at Lanherne 

 and Sancreed ; but, instead of the triquetra knots in the span- 

 drils, a long kind of leaf is introduced, which nearly fills them. 

 They are very flat in execution, and do not appear to have been 

 finished. The markings on the top panel are not distinguishable. 



E. Front. This is divided into two panels ; at the bottom, 

 two flat oval rings placed crosswise and interlaced, and the side 

 spandrils panelled. Above this, a panel of irregular broken 



1 Compare this with the shaft in Gulval churchyard, lately erected upside 

 down. 



2 Deanery of Trigg Minor, Vol. i, p. 586. 



