204 THE SHALL-CROSS. 



knot-work within the upper compartments, as at Bakewell, 

 Macclesfield, and in Cumberland ; or elaborated carving round 

 the cylindrical portions, as at Stapleford, Wilne, and Gosforth ; 

 or cross-heads, as at Ham, Leek, and Gosforth. Some have a 

 single circular roll moulding as the Bow Stones, or double as 

 the Shall-cross, and at Macclesfield and Clulow; but where the 

 shaft is perfect the single staple moulding is uniform. 



It will be noticed that all these crosses are north of the 

 Trent, and therefore, as Mr. Allen suggested, they are dis- 

 tinctly Mercian in origin, and located in that portion of Mercia 

 which, until the commencement of the seventh century, had 

 remained under the rule of the Britons. That they are subse- 

 quent in date to the introduction of Christianity is also beyond 

 doubt, as a reference to the Wilne, Stapleford and inscribed 

 examples will prove. Therefore they may with confidence be 

 dated between the seventh and the tenth centuries, but most of 

 them indicate art of, probably, the earlier half of that period, 

 and the example before us is of the early type. Probably the 

 plain crosses were earlier than the ornamented, the knot-work 

 pattern in the upper compartments prior to the carved cylinders, 

 and, last of all, the figured designs as at Stapleford and Wilne. 

 But fashions then, as now, would often overlap. I hope, how- 

 ever, presently, to offer further evidence for assuming that these 

 crosses were already old at the date of the Norman Conquest. 



Although, to quote Mr. Allen, they are " Mercian rather than 

 Northumbrian," they are closely allied to the Northumbrian 

 crosses, and in Mercia, south of the Trent, this particular type 

 of cross is entirely absent. Therefore we must look for their 

 origin to a condition of affairs which would bring the inhabitants 

 of Derbyshire and Cheshire under the religion and customs of 

 their neighbours north of the Humber, whilst it left those of 

 the rest, and greater portion of Mercia, under its old regime, 

 a condition which would sever all associations and intercourse 

 between the two peoples. 



This can only, I think, be found between the years 627 and 

 685. In 607, Ethelfrith, King of Northumbria, by his victory 



