Standing at the corner of a field as part of a stile on a public footpath

This cross-shaft has seemingly eluded incorporation in any previous corpus of material for Derbyshire as well as the county Historic Environment Record. It was recorded by Sharpe as standing in its present position, although local tradition claims that it was previously located nearby at Whitfield Cross, possibly besides an old packhorse route. It is alleged that the stone was removed from this location, mischievously, in c. 1800 and never replaced. Presumably, it was later reused for the stile (Sharpe 2002, 97–8).

Worn and damaged with the upper part broken off

The shaft is one of the round-shaft monuments which is ovoid in section. It is undecorated except for a worn double collar close to the break in the top of the stone. An Ordnance Survey benchmark has been chiselled on one of its broader faces.

Despite the relative lack of decoration on this shaft, its general dimensions and morphology are consistent with a number of small round-shafts found throughout the region, the bulk of which, including this example, are concentrated around the border area between north-western Derbyshire, north-eastern Staffordshire and south-eastern Cheshire (Sidebottom 1994, distribution map 9). The double collar motif is also typical of such monuments. It is possible that they represent Roman milestones reused in the pre-Conquest period. The Roman fort of Melandra stood close by, as well as several Roman military roads.

Tenth century

Sharpe 2002, 97–8; Bailey 2010, 46, 84, 137