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Object type: Cross-head, in two joining pieces
Measurements: H. (max.) 61 cm (24 in); W. 48 cm (18.9 in); D. Built in
Stone type: Medium-grained red sandstone (St Bees sandstone)
Plate numbers in printed volume: 311 - 12
Corpus volume reference: Vol 2 p. 104-105
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Cross-head, type B9, with ring, type 1a; below the lower arm is a tenon for attachment to the cross-shaft. No information is available about any decoration on faces other than the one now visible. The arms and ring were all bordered by a roll moulding. At the centre of the head are the worn remains of an encircled boss and the upper and lower arms are decorated with a four-strand plain plait. In the lateral arms is multiple ring-chain ornament.
In shape this head almost duplicates that of Gosforth 1, and this adds weight to Parker's speculation that it once formed part of a second large cross at the site which was destroyed in the eighteenth century (Parker 1896, 72). The fleshy plait uses strands of similar type to those on other works by the Gosforth master and the multiple ring-chain is identical to that used on the cylindrical part of the main shaft (see Bailey and Lang 1975).
