Scheduled Monument: Cross At Nether Alderley On The Crossroads Of Welsh Row And Congleton Road (1013784)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Cross at Nether Alderley on the crossroads of Welsh Row and Congleton Road PARISH: NETHER ALDERLEY DISTRICT: MACCLESFIELD COUNTY: CHESHIRE NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 25708 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SJ84347691 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes a stepped plinth and cross base with a fragment of the original shaft. It stands in its original position at a crossroads on the edge of the village. The plinth is raised on a platform of dressed local sandstone and has three steps. The platform is squared and stands 1.25m high measuring 2.53m wide on the east side. The first step measures 2.15m wide on the south side and 1.98m wide on the east side. It stands 0.22m high. The second step is 1.68m wide on the south side and 1.55m wide on the east side and stands 0.24m high. This is topped by a platform made of three large blocks and measuring 0.69m X 0.63m and 0.26m high. The cross base above this is 0.69m X 0.63m and is 0.76m high. This has bevelled edges. The shaft is a squared stone with chamfered edges 0.25m wide and 0.25m high. The plinth is surrounded by a kerb of large dressed stones. There is a wooden bench along the east side and a bus shelter to the south. These are excluded from the scheduling, but the ground beneath is included. The cross is Listed Grade II. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE A standing cross is a free standing upright structure, usually of stone, mostly erected during the medieval period (mid 10th to mid 16th centuries AD). Standing crosses served a variety of functions. In churchyards they served as stations for outdoor processions, particularly in the observance of Palm Sunday. Elsewhere, standing crosses were used within settlements as places for preaching, public proclamation and penance, as well as defining rights of sanctuary. Standing crosses were also employed to mark boundaries between parishes, property, or settlements. A few crosses were erected to commemorate battles. Some crosses were linked to particular saints, whose support and protection their presence would have helped to invoke. Crosses in market places may have helped to validate transactions. After the Reformation, some crosses continued in use as foci for municipal or borough ceremonies, for example as places for official proclamations and announcements; some were the scenes of games or recreational activity. Standing crosses were distributed throughout England and are thought to have numbered in excess of 12,000. However, their survival since the Reformation has been variable, being much affected by local conditions, attitudes and religious sentiment. In particular, many cross-heads were destroyed by iconoclasts during the 16th and 17th centuries. Less than 2,000 medieval standing crosses, with or without cross-heads, are now thought to exist. The oldest and most basic form of standing cross is the monolith, a stone shaft often set directly in the ground without a base. The most common form is the stepped cross, in which the shaft is set in a socket stone and raised upon a flight of steps; this type of cross remained current from the 11th to 12th centuries until after the Reformation. Where the cross-head survives it may take a variety of forms, from a lantern-like structure to a crucifix; the more elaborate examples date from the 15th century. Much less common than stepped crosses are spire-shaped crosses, often composed of three or four receding stages with elaborate architectural decoration and/or sculptured figures; the most famous of these include the Eleanor crosses, erected by Edward I at the stopping places of the funeral cortege of his wife, who died in 1290. Also uncommon are the preaching crosses which were built in public places from the 13th century, typically in the cemeteries of religious communities and cathedrals, market places and wide thoroughfares; they include a stepped base, buttresses supporting a vaulted canopy, in turn carrying either a shaft and head or a pinnacled spire. Standing crosses contribute significantly to our understanding of medieval customs, both secular and religious, and to our knowledge of medieval parishes and settlement patterns. All crosses which survive as standing monuments, especially those which stand in or near their original location, are considered worthy of protection. The cross at Nether Alderley survives well in spite of the loss of most of the shaft and the head. It stands in its original position at a crossroads and was used in medieval times as a preaching cross and village meeting place. MONUMENT INCLUDED IN THE SCHEDULE ON 03rd January 1996