Grass-covered triangle at junction of A39 and minor road from Chapel Amble to Pencarrow, 2.4 km north-east of Wadebridge (SX 0117 7366)

First recorded in 1867 'on the road leading to Camelford, at a place called Threehole-cross' (Polsue 1867, 317). In 1871 thrown down and broken (Langdon, Arthur 1896, 180) but by 1873 it was 're-erected, as nearly as possible in its original position' (Maclean 1873, 07), according to Andrew 'its two pieces set together, erect and flush with the face of the southern hedge on the Wadebridge road' (Andrew 1937–42, 221). In October 1937 the stone was moved due to road widening and, after some vicissitudes, was re-erected in January 1939 in present position, '65 feet west-north-west from its position of 1871' (Andrew 1937–42, 223). For photographs of the stone, one in hedge before May 1937, and one in present position in February 1939, see Ellis, G. 1954–5a, 35 and figs.

Monument broken and unstable: fracture not well joined and natural crack on back; ornament worn, much lichen; situation fair

Cross, with plain round head pierced by three holes, with a projecting roll-moulding at the neck. The shaft is of rectangular section at the bottom but rounded at the top. It is set into a modern base. The right side, containing face D, is not straight. Andrew suggests that this may be due partly to entasis and partly to damage (Andrew 1937–42, 223). As Langdon says, it 'is a most quaint and irregularly executed monument' (Langdon, Arthur 1896, 180).

A (broad): On the head, a St Andrew's cross is indicated, but not actually carved, by piercing three elliptical holes through the head, at the top and sides; at the bottom of the head the hole, which is slightly off-centre, is not completely cut through. Just off the centre of the head is a small low boss. There is a faint trace of an incised edge-moulding on the right side of the shaft. At the centre of the shaft, just above the break, is a small panel of incised holes in five irregular lines.

B and D (narrow): Undecorated

C (broad): As face A, except that there is no incised hole decoration. The lower hole of the head is similarly not fully cut and is noticeably off-centre.

Appendix D item (continuing tradition)

With its three-holed round head, St Andrew's cross, roll-mouldings at the neck, and irregular dot decoration on the shaft, this cross is remarkably similar to Perranzabuloe 1 (St Piran's Cross, p. 189, Ills. 193–6). It is, however, much smaller and more crudely executed. Gwinear 2 (the Connor Down cross) can also be compared, although in the latter, the holes in the head are not cut through but sunk (Ills. 301–4). Like the Connor Down cross, the Three Holes Cross is likely to be a copy of the better executed monument (although the distance of some 30 km, 20 miles, from Egloshayle to Perranzabuloe is a problem).

The cross is located on an important routeway from Launceston around the north side of Bodmin Moor, and from north Cornwall and the Tintagel area, towards the lowest fording point of the River Camel at Wadebridge, thence on to west Cornwall and also to the Bishop of Exeter's important manor at Pawton. It is at a major junction of routes, one of which led to the Bishop of Exeter's manor on this side of the River Camel, at Burnayre.

Late eleventh to twelfth century

Polsue 1867, 317; Maclean 1873, 407, fig. 23 on p. 406; Langdon, Arthur and Allen, J. R. 1888, 316, 324; Langdon, Arthur 1890–1, 74, 80; Langdon, Arthur 1896, 180, passim and fig.; Daniell 1906, 243; Langdon, Arthur 1906, 429, 432, pl. XI, fig. 69; Andrew 1937–42, 221–3 and figs.; (—) 1943–50, 247; Ellis, G. 1954–5a, 33–5 and figs.; Harvey 1978, 113; Langdon, Andrew 1992a, 29, no. 32, and fig.; Langdon, Andrew 1996a, 17; Pearce 2004, 314; Turner 2006a, xviii, 163, pl. 15b