Cemented to the floor adjacent to the wall inside the south porch of the church.

The Lysons record the shaft as being in the churchyard in 1817 (Lysons and Lysons 1817, ccxxxiv; cf. Browne 1886, 176; Bateman 1848, 192; Cox 1875, 95; Routh 1937a, 17; id. 1937b, 19). Stevenson (1917, 75) mentions that it was previously on the south or south-east side of the churchyard and socketed into a massive base sunk in the ground, probably in its original position. By 1969, the Derbyshire Historic Environment Record (entry 1804) recorded the base as frost shattered and the shaft by then inside the church in its present position.

St Werburgh

The top of the shaft is missing, with the carving on B and D incomplete. It is hollowed-out to form an incomplete basin. The carving on A is in reasonably good condition with that on B and D worn but decipherable, while that on C is very worn and obscured.

The lower two-fifths of the shaft are undecorated on all four faces, and the carving contained in panels formed by a lower horizontal moulding and vertical arrises on each side.

A (broad): The panel of decoration is filled with an asymmetrical two-stranded interlace pattern formed of turned V-bends. The vertical arrises on each side are badly worn but may have been roll mouldings. The pattern is truncated at the top where the shaft is incomplete.

B (narrow): Decorated by a series of two-stranded, spiraliform interlace patterns joined together by the two stands. At the top, these diminish in size corresponding to the taper on the shaft. The horizontal arrises are badly worn.

C (broad): This face is obscured as it faces the wall, and while inspection suggests that it comprises a badly-worn interlace pattern which may be similar to that on B, Stevenson (1917, 77), illustrates it as similar to that on A. See also Le Blanc Smith 1905b, fig. 7.

D (narrow): This face is decorated by an asymmetrical two-stranded interlace pattern composed of a series of V-bends and plain curves, arranged in a less elaborate design than that on B.

E (top): The top of the shaft appears to have been truncated and hollowed-out with the side above C missing. The top of each of the three sides of the hollowed area are badly worn and damaged. The side above B has striations similar to a cable moulding and there is a nick in the centre of the side above A, but it is unclear whether this was intentional or the result of subsequent wear.

The decoration is limited to interlace patterns which have been carved, lacking in symmetry. In this, it bears similarities with patterns preserved at Derby (nos. 7, 8 and 11), which have been dated to the tenth century, and it is possible that the two sites were connected, especially given the possible provenance of Blackwell 2 (p. 252). At some stage, the top of the shaft was altered to form a hollowed-out bowl or possibly a water stoup or, conceivably, an ornamental object such as a bird-bath.

Tenth century

Lysons and Lysons 1817, ccxxxvi; Bateman 1848, 192; Cox 1875, 95; Cox 1878, 8; Allen and Browne 1885, 355; Browne 1886, 176, pl. XV.1, 2, 4; Hartshorne 1889, 79; Ward 1900, 19; Cox 1903a, 39, 99; Le Blanc Smith 1904a, 195; Allen 1905, 281; Le Blanc Smith 1905b, 102–6, figs. 5–8; Arnold-Bemrose 1910, 107; Stevenson 1917, 75–80, fig. on 77; Tudor 1927, 46; Tudor 1929, 59, 97; Tudor 1935, 90; Routh 1937a, 17; Routh 1937b, 19; Fisher 1959, 71–2; Pevsner and Williamson 1978, 91; Craven and Stanley 1986, 27; Leonard 1993, 17; Sidebottom 1994, 128, 132, 148, 229 (Blackwell (E. Derbyshire))