Blackden, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire (SJ 789707), in private possession (Bailey 2010, 154). Set on a modern plinth in the garden.

First recorded as having been brought to Heaton from an unknown location at some point before the Second World War, and reused as a cattle rubbing post in a field approximately 1.25 miles (2 km) north-west of Swythamley Hall (Tringham 1996, 188; Hill and Seddon 1998, 144–5). Moved to its present location in 1966. Staffordshire Historic Environment Record 00259.

No dedication

Broken at the top, with weathered remains of carving on two faces. Several lead-filled holes in the present south face and a deep slot in the east face represent secondary damage from reuse as a gatepost. A photograph from 1966 shows an iron spike set into the base (Hill and Seddon 1998).

Round shaft, type g/h (Cramp 1991, fig. 1), from which most of the upper rectangular section has been lost, though the lower parts of the U-shaped panels are still visible. A horizontal moulding encircles the upper part of the cylindrical shaft. Below this are traces of a horizontal spiral scroll on the north and west faces. Shoots emerge from the centre of the spiral and pass downwards under the main stem, with trumpet forms (or possibly a double leaf), springing upwards. There are possible traces of vertical relief ornament on the shaft (Bailey 2010, 154).

The remains comprise a round-shaft monument, typical of those in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and in Cheshire where they do not seem to have been erected in churchyards. Bailey has suggested that this shaft may originally have formed a boundary-marker. The placement of the decoration has parallels in the region: on Ilam 2 and Bakewell 25, for instance (see Bailey 2010, 154 for further examples).

Tenth or eleventh century

Rix 1960, 72; Taylor 1966, 10 n.1; Heath 1970, 6; Plunkett 1984, 286; Tringham 1996, 186; Hill and Seddon 1998, figs. on 147, 148, pls. on 145, 146; Sharpe 2002, 99; Bailey 2010, 34, 36, 127, 138, 154, ills. 739–40