Druid/Christian Crosses and Pillars in Britain
See the excellent photo collection by Roy Reed at: https://www.flickr.com/groups/earlycrosses/pool/with/50397842943
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St Lawrence's Church in Eyam.
The remains of a Druid/Christian cross found at Eyam now set up now set up in the yard of the St Lawrence's Church. The top of the pillar and bottom of the cross seem to have been destroyed. The pillar originally showed 6 interconnected Druid Spirals.
Photo by Big Albert at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/52948047@N05/6941460095/in/pool-earlycrosses/
St Lawrence's Church and St. Helen's Chapel in Eyam, Darbyshire
St Lawrence's Church and St. Helen's Chapel in Eyam, Darbyshire
(May 2, 2024) The main church building is dedicated to St. Lawrence with the dedication to St. Helen applying only to the chapel in the north aisle. The church has a Norman baptismal font but the building mainly dates to the early 1300's. It has some 1100's work and a south aisle and tower dated to the 1400's. It was drastically restored in 1868 and 1882. It was was partly rebuilt in 1619. The north aisle and chancel were restored by Street in 1868-9. The south aisle and porch were rebuilt by J D Webster in 1882-3.
Medieval to early 17th century wall paintings were recently uncovered above the nave arcades and on the west wall. In addition to the Norman baptismal font which was 'tidied' by the Victorians there is a Saxon baptismal font in the north aisle brought from Brookfield Manor in the 1890's. It is a grade II* listed parish church. The church is built of coursed squared and coursed rubble gritstone.
Clarence Daniel (1966) wrote:
“It is scarcely necessary to draw attention to the Saxon Cross—the most venerable landmark in the village. For over a thousand years it has stood shelterless and bareheaded, exposed to the ravages of wind and rain, the wayside witness to an unperishable story. Perhaps this simple translation of the Gospel was being wrought out of living stone about the same time that a spark inspiration kindled the emotions of Caedmon at Whitby. Fortunately it escaped mutilation when Puritan zealots were authorised by an act of Parliament passed in 1643 to remove and destroy ‘“all crosses in an open place’”, although the top portion of the shaft has since been broken up and used for cobble stones. Until the visit of John Howard, the prison reformer, it lay almost smothered by weeds in a corner of the churchyard, but his concern for the preservation of such a valuable relic inspired its erection in a more prominent position.
“Mercia was evangelized by missionaries from Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, and the Eyam cross resembles in certain characteristics the type for which Iona is famous. Upon the head and arms, figures of angels are sculp-tured in relief; whilst the upper portion of the shaft is adorned with a representation of the Virgin and Child, beneath which a figure holding a trumpet, or bugle-horn. Below these pictorial panels in an elaborate tracery of scroll-work woven into three circles. The carving on the reverse of the shaft consists of five foliated scrolls in each of which a trefoil design is cleverly triplicated.
References
References
https://her.derbyshire.gov.uk/Monument/MDR3932
Clarence, Daniel (1966) The Story of Eyam Plague – with a Guide to the Village, Cratcliffe, Eyam, near Sheffield
https://www.flickr.com/groups/earlycrosses/pool/with/51182648258
Cross in Lanhydrock, Cornwall
Cross in Lanhydrock, Cornwall
This shows a weathered but intact Druid/Christian cross. Notice the cross is a separate piece from the pillar. This pillar also has 6 Druid spirals.
Photo by Roy Reed at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/royreed/51182648258/in/pool-earlycrosses/
Bewcastle Pillar
Bewcastle Pillar
The Bewcastle Cross is an Anglo-Saxon cross which is still in its original position within the churchyard of St Cuthbert's church at Bewcastlein Cumbria. Scholars date the cross to between 600 to 750 CE.
Elaborate pillar. Photo by Gordon Plumb at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/5247630722/in/pool-earlycrosses/
Runic Text Panel on Bewcastle Pillar
Runic Text Panel on Bewcastle Pillar
Runic (Druid Akkadian) text but it is too weathered to properly translate from this one photo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bewcastle_Cross
Photo by Gordon Plumb at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/5249643188/in/pool-earlycrosses/
(June 29, 2024) Early scholarly drawing of the Bewcastle Pillar whose source was not recorded. Its images are naturalistic and thus Celtic and Roman. The grape vine represents abundance. The vine is associated on this pillar with Celtic knots which first appeared in Roman mosaics as representations of the life-network although the ones shown here are much more elaborate. Yet the vine is also Christian being associated with Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John:
John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Yet the west side is certainly Christian with its halos around the heads. The top shows a pregnant Mary holding a lamb representing the Christ child as the "lamb of God." Below that would seem to be Jesus Christ himself. The bottom image is the apostle John with an eagle with which he was typically associated. (https://catholicexchange.com/what-are-the-symbols-of-the-four-evangelists/)
The runic letters are too eroded (at least in the picture) to translate.
From Wikimedia Commons at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bewcastle_Cross#/media/File:BewcastleCross2.jpg
Bewcastle Pillar History and Museum Video
Bewcastle Pillar History and Museum Video
(June 29, 2024) Quote from the Youtube description by WC21 (UK) Productions Ltd:
"In the middle of bleedin' nowhere we find the incredible Bewcastle Cross - the finest Anglian cross in England - considered by Nikolaus Pevsner to be one of the 12 most important historical structures in Britain.We're looking at the fascinating history of its location on a site spanning Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and through to the Dark Ages.
Two key questions are considered: 1) Why is this fine Anglo Saxon cross here, in such a remote location and so far away from the heartlands of the Northumbrian kingdom? 2) How was it made to such a high quality at a time when this shouldn't have been possible?"
Liverpool’s Ancient Stones (These Have Druid Spirals)
Liverpool’s Ancient Stones (These Have Druid Spirals)
(June 29, 2024) Quote from the Youtube description by WC21 (UK) Productions Ltd:
"We're looking at the Calder Stones here - 6 Neolithic remnants of a chambered burial tomb - that have an incredible survival story over the last 250 years. And also Robin Hood's Stone - a possible seventh survivor, now located a short way away on the junction of Booker Avenue and Archerfield Road.
With great contributions for Roy - at Calderstones Park - and Peter Foo at Greenwood Road. At the age of 14, Peter appeared in the 1958 film, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness with Ingrid Bergman. "
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