Summary

Standing cross, of probable C14 date.

Description

Standing cross of probable C14 date.

MATERIALS and PLAN: constructed of ashlar and square on plan.

DESCRIPTION: it comprises a chamfered plinth, some 2.5m wide, which is less visible at the south-west corner due to the slightly rising ground. It is surmounted by a two-stepped base and a socket stone; the shaft and head are missing. The socket stone is square at the base, chamfered above broach stops, and rises to an octagonal section. The tenon of the cross-shaft still lodges in a square mortice at the centre of the socket stone. There is a mid-C20 plaque on the north side of the base but the inscription is no longer clearly legible.

History

Standing crosses, usually of stone, are free-standing upright structures that were mostly erected during the medieval period. Typically they comprised a shaft, often on a stepped base, supporting a decorative head of cross form or with a lantern, globe or finial. They varied considerably in elaboration, and stood in a variety of locations, to serve a range of functions. Those located outside churchyards were used as places for preaching, proclamation and penance. Crosses in market places may have helped to validate transactions. After the Reformation some continued in use as foci for municipal or borough ceremonies, for example as places for official proclamations and announcements; others were the scenes of games or recreational activity.

During the medieval period Okeford Fitzpaine was granted royal charters to hold a weekly market and a three-day yearly fair which were likely to have taken place on the village green. Okeford Fitzpaine’s standing cross, which is considered to probably date from the C14, is located on the former village green. Some restoration was carried out in the mid-C20.

Reasons for Listing

The medieval standing cross in Okeford Fitzpaine is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Date: despite the loss of the original shaft and head, this is a standing cross of probable C14 date which is prominently sited in the centre of the village;
*Historic interest: it illustrates well how some crosses served as foci during the medieval period;
* Group value: it forms a group with other listed buildings, including the Old School House, 74 and 75 The Cross, and the Old Bell Stores, which are all Grade II listed.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17662595

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)