A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE
Weapons not associated with interments are reported from Rossendale, where, in the Red Moss which formerly lay within the Forest of Rossendale, iron arrow-heads were commonly found in the same vicinity as the gold torque already described. An urn, sword, and dagger are recorded as found at Crossmoor.[1]
Two ancient 'chessmen' of fine jet were found in the tumulus known as the Mote Hill at Warrington, and are generally described, without much evidence, as pre-Norman.[2] Another find of miscellaneous character contains an object which seems more likely to be of Saxon times. This is a wooden drinking cup, with two handles and bronze bands round it, found in the moss at Stalmine, which lies 3½ miles south of Fleetwood. A brass stirrup also is recorded from the same site.[3]
Sculptured Crosses
The best archaeological evidence of Christian settlements of Anglo-Saxon date is to be gleaned from the occurrence of ecclesiastical or religious monuments which can be assigned to this period. Their character and extent may be appreciated from the papers on this subject which have appeared at various times in the transactions of the Historic and Antiquarian Societies of Lancashire.[4] As might be expected from the situation of the county, the monuments bear witness to the influence not only of the Anglian school of Northumbria, but also to Irish, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse tradition. It is probable that none of these monuments are earlier than the eighth century, but it may be noted that in the opinion of the late Rev. W. S. Calverley[5] a few fragments in this corner of England might be survivals from the times of SS. Ninian, Patrick, and Kentigern.
In the hundred of West Derby the most important monument is the fragment of a cross in the churchyard at Winwick. The centre and arms alone remain, but they show that the diameter of the head of the cross was 4 feet 11 inches, and that it was of Irish type, the arms being connected by a circular ring. There is a large boss in the centre of each face, and the whole surface of the best preserved face is taken up with a symmetrical arrangement of two patterns of ornament, one consisting of a double row of Stafford knots, the other a diaper founded on the key pattern. The other face is much worn, but shows remains of beasts with interlacing tails. The ends of the arms show in one case a man carrying two rectangular objects with handles, which have been called bells or buckets, and in the other two men holding a third who is hung up by one foot and seems to have lost his hands. The two men seem to be cutting off the legs of the hanging figure. The dismemberment of the Northumbrian king St. Oswald is probably the subject of the sculpture, for the church and a well, distant only three-quarters of a mile, are both dedicated to that saint. An attractive theory,[6] indeed, identifies the local Makerfield with the Maserfield where St, Oswald met
- ↑ Fishwick, St. Michael's-on-Wyre, 2.
- ↑ Arch. Journ. ix. 304.
- ↑ Lanc. and Ches. Hist. Soc. Trans. iii. 120.
- ↑ 'Pre-Norman Sculptured Stones in Lancashire,' G. F. Browne, Lanc. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. Trans. v. i; papers on the Heysham sculptures, ibid. lx. 30-90; 'The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire,' H. Taylor, ibid, xviii. 1; xix. 136; xx. 145; xxi. 1; 'The Early Christian Monuments of Lancashire and Cheshire,' J. Romilly Allen, Lanc. and Ches. Hist. Soc. Trans. (New Ser.), ix. 1.
- ↑ Notes on the Early Sculptured Crosses in the present diocese of Carlisle, pp. 3, 12, 23, 302, etc.
- ↑ Baines, Lancashire (Harland), ii. 205.
262
