In churchyard of St Gulval's church, beside porch (SW 4845 3174)

Found in September 1885 during demolition of part of east wall of chancel (Millett 1884–8, 145). Recorded in April 1887 in churchyard, 'west of the porch' ((—) 1884–8c, 314). Recorded in 1889 'lately erected' in churchyard, probably in present location (Langdon, Arthur 1889a, 335); certainly recorded in present location in 1896 (Langdon, Arthur 1896, 372).

St Gulval

Monument broken but stable; ornament clear; text badly worn; situation good

Part only of a rectangular cross-shaft with sub-rectangular tenon, mounted upside down. The shaft has a single panel of decoration on all faces except A which also has an inscription. The edges of the shaft are enriched by cable-moulding.

A (broad): The upper part of the shaft is filled with a simple type F interlace in triple-moulded broad, flat bands.

The top panel is not separated from the lower in any way: the flat termination of the lower interlacing strand serves to define the bottom of the panel. The lower panel has an inscription in two lines separated by an incised line. The letters of the inscribed text appear to read horizontally but they are so deteriorated that it is uncertain what script was used and the text must be concluded to be illegible.

B (narrow): Step pattern 2 executed with broad flat strands formed by incising lines between the strands.

C (broad): Shallowly carved in broad flat bands is simple pattern A with glides separating the individual figures.

D (narrow): Step pattern 2, more upright than on face B, and more crudely executed.

The ring-twist suggests a date in the later part of the early medieval period. The use of broad, flat strands is characteristic of Viking-age carving in Cumbria and the step pattern used here is very similar to that on Kirkby Stephen 4 (Bailey and Cramp 1988, 123, ills. 403, 405). The cable-moulding on the angles of the shaft can be paralleled in south Wales on Penally 1 and 2 (Edwards 2007, 410–17) but is unusual in Cornwall, where the only other examples are on the head of Tintagel 1 and possibly on Quethiock 1 (Ills. 208, 224–6).

The inscribed text has been read as vn vi (Langdon, Arthur and Allen, J. R. 1895, 58) and as vri vi (Macalister 1945, 440). In view of these differences and of the illegible state of the text today (Ill. 87), the original reading cannot be recovered.

Although it occurs in an area with a distinctive style of pre-Norman sculpture, this monument is in contrast with these and is unique in Cornwall, as, in a different way, is its companion piece, Gulval 2 (Ills. 88–91).

With a name in lann and a large curving churchyard located on a gently sloping coastal plain above Mounts Bay, Gulval church is a site of early medieval origin. The cross, however, is the earliest tangible evidence on the site. By the time of the Norman Conquest, the estate of Landicle (Gulval) was in the ownership of the bishop of Exeter (Thorn and Thorn 1979, 2,10), perhaps through appropriation of the site of an earlier (pre-Saxon) church here. There is further discussion of the context in the Gulval 2 entry below.

Tenth to eleventh century

Lach-Szyrma 1883–5, 374; (—) 1883–5, 320; (—) 1884–8c, 314; Millett 1884–8, 145–6, 202; Lach-Szyrma 1886–9, 56; Langdon, Arthur 1889a, 319, 335, 340, 342, 345, 347 and fig.; Langdon, Arthur 1890–1, 36, 39n, 50–2, 56, 58 and fig.; Langdon, Arthur and Allen, J. R. l895, 51, 58, 59, no. 36 and figs.; Langdon, Arthur 1896, 357, 372–4, passim and figs.; Baring-Gould 1899–1900, 130; Daniell 1906, 245, 450–1; Langdon, Arthur 1906, 412, 416, 438, pl. VI, fig. 39; Macalister 1929, 183; Hencken 1932, 271, 278–9, 297; Dexter and Dexter 1938, 261–2, 266–8 and figs.; Macalister 1945, 440, no. 463, and fig.; Thomas, I. ?1950, 54[1]; Ellis, G. 1952–3c, 58; Russell 1965, 73; Pevsner 1970, 76; Russell 1971, 81, 84; Rowe, L. 1973, fig.; Maxwell 1976, 10; Pearce 1978, 71, 179; Okasha 1993, 113–15 and passim, no. 15, fig. II.15; Thomas, A. C. 1994, 328, no. 463; Langdon, Andrew 1997, 21, no. 19, and fig.; Salter 1999, 30; Henderson, M. unpub. 1985, p. 427, entry 212, and figs.

[1] It is not certain that this reference is to Gulval 1.