Cylchgronau Cymru

The RUTHIN Illustrated Magazine. A MOHTHLY JOffRHAX, FOR AU< CLASSES. To Inform. To Instruct. To Amuse. No. 11. Vol. 1. DECEMBER, 1879. TWO PENCE. ANCIENT CROSSES in the YALE OF CLWYD AND OTHER ECCLESIASTICAL REMAINS. BY THE REV. ELIAS OWEN, M.A. Although mention has been made of wayside crosses in these papers, a description of anyone in particular has not hitherto been given. The only cross of the kind still in existence in or about ^ihe Vale of Clwyd shall form the subject of this article, but before referring to it, I will mention a few such crosses that more or less mutilated remain in various parts of the Diocese of St. Asaph. There if the pedestal of a cross on the hill between Chirk and Llangollen, and also out¬ side Gresford village in the direction of Wrexham and there is one outside Oswestry. A tradition in connection with the Oswestry and Gresford pedestals has come down to our days to the effect that they were placed in their present position in the time of the plague, and that the cavity in these stones were for the purpose of enabling the inhabitants of the infected districts to place therein the money paid by them for the necessaries of life, which, it is said, were deposited by, or on the stone, and the amount charged therefor was afterwards placed by the purchasers in the hole on the top of the stone. In this way are these pedestals accounted for. A similar tradition in -connection with such stones exists in several localities but no reliance can be placed thereon. But to return to the subject of this paper. LlANEFYDD WAT SIDE CROSS. This CrOSS does not stand in its original position. It once was in the centre of the road in the middle of the village, but for various causes it was removed by the present vicar, the Rev. E. Jones, in the year 1871 to the vicarage grounds, a few yards from its previous site. It must have been once a massive structure, but in the year 1756 the shaft was cut down to 3 feet to make way for a sun dial, the brass plate of which still remains and the person who did this work was so satisfied therewith, that he had his name engraven around the plate. From this date we can infer that, most likely, several crosses that have been made into sun dials were so converted in the last oentury The pedestal of Llanefydd cross is a large stone measuring 3 ft. 8 inches square, and 17 inchei high. Its corners are chamfered. What remains of the shaft is 15 inches square where it enten the pedestal, but a foot above, it assumes an octagonal form with opposite equal sides. Ther« is a mark on the top of the pedestal very muck like that of the Ordnance Survey, but it is not so deep; and as such marks are to be found on the pillars in old churches in the Vale, and elsewhere, it is not unlikely that this on the cross was a private mark of the stonecutter who was employed in making the cross, and who was likewise engaged upon the churches where the same marks are to be found. There is hardly a church dating from an early period that has not mason's marks on the pillars or pillar arches. In the Vale two churches of this description may be mentioned; viz : Llanelidan and Llanrhaiadr, and to these may be added the St. Asaph Cathedral. If the date of the erection of any one of these churchei can be ascertained, the time of building the others can be obtained, that is, if their pillar marks are identical; and should any pillar be distinguished with tha same kind of mark as that which is on Llanefydd cross, then the date of the cross itself can be ascertained. The marks now alluded to are highly interesting, and a study thereof will throw much light upon many question! connected with ecclesiastical edifices. (To be continued.)