Stanton village cross

Stanton's village cross stands at the roadside where Church Lane meets the High Street, in the middle of Stanton. Its three steps and socket stone are medieval; the shaft and its head of sundial, ball and cross are later, and the listing dates the cross to the medieval period and the seventeenth century. It is listed Grade II and is a scheduled monument, and the Cotswold Way passes it.

History

Crosses like this were set up beside roads and in villages across England from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, to remind passers-by of their faith, to reassure travellers and to mark the way; more than 350 wayside crosses are known. Stanton's is probably still where it was first put, at the junction below the church, and Historic England judges that it survives well with many of its original parts. It was once listed as a preaching cross, a use the evidence does not settle.

Later changes

At some point, probably in the seventeenth century, the cross was given a new shaft and a head with a sundial, a ball and a small cross, which turned it into a village sundial as well as a cross. Charles Pooley described it among the old crosses of Gloucestershire in 1868. It was scheduled in 1965 and is listed Grade II. In 1906 Sir Philip Stott, an architect from Oldham, bought the Stanton Court estate and went on to restore much of the village.

What to see

Historic England describes the cross as complete, from its steps to its head.

• The calvary of three steps: the bottom one 2.3m square and 0.6m high, moulded top and bottom, then two shallower steps
• The socket stone, 0.4m high, its square base turned into an octagon by sloping broaches
• The octagonal shaft, about 1.4m high, with broaches at its foot
• On top, the sundial, the ball finial and the cross

Kerb stones edge the road round its base. The church of St Michael and All Angels is a few steps up Church Lane.

Visiting

The cross is at the roadside, free and open at all times; it is a scheduled monument, so treat it with care. Cars pass close by, so take care at the junction. Stanton is quietest early in the morning and on weekdays.

Getting there

Park in the parish council car park next to the cricket ground; visitors are asked not to park in the village centre. Pulhams bus 606, between Cheltenham and Broadway, stops at the Stanton turn on the main road, about half a mile away, Monday to Saturday only.

On foot, the Stanton, Snowshill and the edge walk passes the cross, and the Cotswold Way comes through the village past it on the section our Cotswold Way: Broadway to Wood Stanway walk follows.

Nearby

Up Church Lane is the Grade I church of St Michael and All Angels, with Comper's rood loft. Above the village the Cotswold Way climbs to the Iron Age fort of Shenberrow Camp, and over the hill is Snowshill Manor. For other old crosses in the Cotswolds, see the market cross at Stow-on-the-Wold and the market cross at Castle Combe.