The Northern Antiquarian Forum

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The Northern Antiquarian Forum

Archaeology, folklore & myth of Britain's pre-christian sites & heritage: stone circles, holy wells, maypoles, tombs, archaic cosmologies and human consciousness. Everyone welcome - even Southerners!


2 posters

    THE WALTON CROSS, Hartshead, West Yorkshire.

    Sunbright57
    Sunbright57


    Join date : 2011-02-10
    Age : 66
    Location : Nelson - the one in Lancashire sorry to say!

    THE WALTON CROSS, Hartshead, West Yorkshire. Empty THE WALTON CROSS, Hartshead, West Yorkshire.

    Post  Sunbright57 Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:53 am

    Os grid reference SE.176 238. The base of The Walton Cross can be found at the northern side of Walton farm, and just off Windy Bank Lane, west of Hartshead village, some 8 miles east of Halifax. It stands beside a footpath so it should be ok for anyone wishing to visit thie site.

    The cross-base stands 4 foot 9' (1.5 metres) high by 3 foot 6' wide and is said to date from the 10th-11th century. Some historians have claimed that it dates from the 8th century, but that seems unlikely. It is quite well decorated with Saxon and Viking ornamentation comprising of interlacing and knotwork, and a circle with rosette knot which may be identified as 'The Tree of Life' in a panel that is double edged. The circle with rosette knot is the logo for The West Yorkshire Archaeological Service.

    In an 18th century report is was said that a 15 foot high cross stood here, probably a preaching cross and at which time, or earlier, documentary evidence referred to it as a "wagestan" - a waymarker. The cross-face apparently also bore more interlacing and design-work similar to the base. Sadly, I don't know where the shaft and cross are today.

    References:-

    The West Yorkshire Archaeology Service (WYAS).
    Bull, Malcolm - The Calderdale Companion.


    Last edited by Sunbright57 on Sat Apr 02, 2011 2:35 pm; edited 1 time in total
    Kai Roberts
    Kai Roberts


    Join date : 2011-03-15
    Age : 41
    Location : Calderdale

    THE WALTON CROSS, Hartshead, West Yorkshire. Empty Re: THE WALTON CROSS, Hartshead, West Yorkshire.

    Post  Kai Roberts Sat Apr 02, 2011 12:44 pm

    Sunbright57 wrote:Os grid reference SE.176 236. The base of The Walton Cross can be found close-by Walton farm, and just off Windy Bank Lane, west of Hartshead village, some 8 miles east of Halifax. It stands near a footpath so it should be ok for anyone wishing to visit thie site, but I think it's in a garden !
    Yes, it's easily visited as it's right next to the footpath. It certainly used to be on private land once though, at the other side of a field from the footpath, a field usually full of aggressive geese. When I was at primary school, my friend's dad bought the farm whose land it was on and paid for the creation of a new footpath to the cross. If only all landowners were so enlightened, eh?

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