Page:Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries.djvu/431

62 The Ancient Stone Crosses of all the old stones as far as was possible. An examination of the stones showed that there were originally four stages forming the base. To complete this, twelve new stones were required, but some are only small ones. These are of granite, but the old ones are of Roborough Down stone. What was considered to have been a portion of the original shaft stands in the churchyard, near the gate, and has a sun- dial fixed upon it. Excavation, however, proved that this column could never have belonged to the shaft, as the part beneath the surface was found to be in a rough state. It is therefore probable that it was made for the purpose which it now serves. The pillar is about four feet in height, and is surmounted by an ancient sculptured capital, which being of the same kind of stone as the original base of the cross may not improbably have formed a cap to its shaft. Two stones, which appear to be parts of a cross, are to be found at Milton, a hamlet in the parish, and these were examined when the restoration had been decided upon in the hope that they might prove to be fragments of the old Buckland Cross. But their character did not show that this was likely, and it was therefore decided to erect an entirely new shaft. The lantern exhibits some very fine carving. There are figures of St. Bernard, St. Andrew, to whom the church is dedicated, the arms of the See of Exeter, and of Buckland Abbey. A small Latin cross surmounts the whole. There being scarcely sufficient space in the village street for the cross, a site was found for it in the churchyard. It stands on the spot occupied for many years by a noble horse- chestnut tree, that was destroyed by the blizzard of 189 1. At the inauguration there was a short service in the church, and addresses were delivered from the steps of the cross. There is a school close at hand, founded by Lady Mody- ford in 1702, and, as a tablet states, repaired by Sir Masseh Lopes in 1830. Over the porch is a small granite cross. Two inscribed stones have been found at Buckland, and are noticed in a succeeding chapter. Shortly after leaving the village on our way to Roborough Down, and just before reaching the entrance to the vicarage, in a gateway of a field belonging to Crapstone Farm, may be