Browse crosses

Location

O/S Grid Ref:  SX/66863/90761       Longitude/Latitude (Degrees+/-):  -3.88665/50.70120

Map location:  Click here to view map.

Purpose:  To commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

Size:  3 feet (0.90 metres) tall. 2 feet (0.60 metres) across the arms.

Information: The head, arms and shaft of this cross are octagonal in shape and it is in very good condition all the way around. The cross stands on a plinth of three steps with the socket stone on the top. The overall size of the plinth measures 9 feet (2 75 metres) by 8 feet 7 inches (2.60 metres) and 2 feet tall (0.60 metres).

Although the cross is relatively modern, it is thought that the socket stone has been re-used from an ancient cross, which once stood in the nearby churchyard. When it was discovered, abandoned in a horse-pit, the socket stone was found to have been hollowed out to form a shallow trough. The overall measurements of this stone are 2 feet 8 inches (0.80 metres) by 2 feet 11 inches (0.90 metres) and 1 foot 2 inches (0.36 metres) high. The internal measurements of the trough were 1 foot 10 inches (0.56 metres) by 1 foot 11 inches (0.58 metres). The cross is now held in place by the use of a liberal amount of cement, in order to fill the large gap around the shaft.

The vicar of Throwleigh, together with a parishioner, a Mrs Wood of St. John’s, Murchington, arranged for the cross to be erected. The vicar, at the time, was the Rev. George Lincoln Gambier Lowe, who was at the church from 1895 to 1933.

The cross is in commemoration of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and details of this are engraved around the edge of the middle step. This engraving is not easy to read now due to the amount of moss and lichen that has built up on the stones over the years. However, the engravings around the edge of the top step can easily be read and these are, in an anticlockwise direction, starting with the side facing up the hill towards the church:

+ GOOD LORD +
+ DELIVER US +
+ BY THY CROSS +
+ AND PASSION +

There is a pretty little pond on the opposite side of road to cross. Just beyond the pond, towards the village shop, an old mill stone has been propped up against the wall at the entrance to a private garden. This makes an authentic and imposing garden ornament.