 Location:
On The Green, Stoke Hill
Lane, Crapstone.
O/S Grid Ref:
SX/50486/67835 Longitude/Latitude (Degrees+/-): -4.10917/50.49119
Map location:
Click here
to view map.
Purpose: Memorial for
World War I, World War II and the Korean War.
Size: The
cross is too tall for it to be properly measured from the ground, but the
octagonal shaft has a full width of 10 inches (0.25 metres).
Information: This
tall and slender cross has an octagonal shaft and arms, with the end of
the arms and the top of the shaft being finished off with slightly wider
rounded ends. There is also a collar running around the shaft a
little way down from the arms, with the base of the shaft having an ornate
finish at the point where it meets the top of the socket stone.
 The large socket
stone, which has a width of 3 feet 2 inches (0.97 metres) and a height of
4 feet 5 inches (1.35 metres), is formed of three layers of stone firmly
cemented together. The south western face of the socket stone shows
the dedication of the cross in black lettering: 'To the / Glory of
God / & in Honour / of the men of / Buckland / Parish / Who Died in /
the Great War / 1914 - 1919 / Live thou for England / We for England Died'.
The other three faces of the socket stone lists the names of the 36 local
men who lost their lives in World War I. The socket itself sits on a
plinth of five steps, each of which is formed by a number of blocks into
an octagonal pattern. The total height of these plinths is 3 feet 1
inch (0.94 metres), which, together with the socket stone, raises the
whole structure by the height of 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 metres). The
following wording also appears round the edges of the plinth stones: 'In
Glory Everlasting / 1939 - 1945 / Make Them / To be Numbered / With thy
Saints', together with the names of those who lost their lives in
the Second World and Korean Wars.
The
village of Crapstone sits within the parish of Buckland Monachorum and
this isolated, but imposing, cross acts as a memorial to all those men of
Yelverton, Clearbrook and Milton Combe, as well as Crapstone and Buckland
Monachorum, who lost their lives during three twentieth century
wars. The three wars concerned were the First World War (1914-1918),
the Second World War (1939-1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953).
 Sitting
well back on the grass, behind the cross, sits a large stone with a metal
Dartmoor National Park badge fixed to it. This stone is one of a
number, sited beside roads, around the edge of the National Park to mark
its boundary. This, in effect, means that the cross sits just
outside of the Dartmoor boundary but it is such a fine cross that we had
no hesitation in including it in our list of Dartmoor Crosses. Quite
close to this boundary stone there is a wooden bench which makes a nice
seat on which to rest for a while in this quiet and peaceful spot.
Our thanks to Bob
Noakes for bringing this cross to our attention.
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