Leggetsrath East High Cross

Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 226-7) describes the church at Leggetsrath East as being, ‘in a field called the “churchfield.” All traces of it have been obliterated; but the circular earthen rampart, about 30 yds. [c. 27m] in diameter, that enclosed it, is still distinctly traceable. In the very centre of the enclosing ring, is an ancient pillar-stone of granite, standing to a height of 3½ ft. [c. 1m] over the ground, and about 17 in. [0.44m] wide and 12 in. [0.31m] thick; it is rough below, but chiselled smooth above, where a plain sunk cross has been carved on the south face, and a very peculiar cross, of the cheque pattern, on the north face…The pillar stone is said to mark the grave of a Bishop, who suffered death at the hands of the persecutors, and whose remains were laid to rest here.’ There is no visible trace of a church at ground level, however, the enclosure (KK019-030002-) survives. Further investigations within the enclosure in 1963 revealed an undecorated fragment of dressed stone and a large portion of a broken ringed cross-head, suggesting that the pillar stone is the shaft of a high cross (Prendergast 1964, 5-16).

Prendergast (1964, 6) suggests that the undecorated fragment (c. 0.38m x 0.47m) might be from the cross-base or socket. The rectangular cross-shaft (H above ground 1.17m) is firmly embedded in the ground (ibid.). It and the cross-head are described by Prendergast (ibid. 6-9) as being, ‘divided, superficially, into two portions by a slight projection around the present middle. The lower portion is dressed but plain and narrows a little below the projection. The maximum dimensions of the cross-section at the projection are 46cm by 35cm. The upper portion of the shaft tapers slightly upwards but it is more uniform in its proportions; here the average cross-section measures 35cm by 30cm, the narrower faces as on the lower half are east and west. The ornamental design of the upper shaft may never have been fully carried out or, perhaps, weathering may account for what appears to be obliterated; the shaft is broken off at the top and, almost certainly, more of it is missing than is present. The north face is quite flat and unadorned with the exception of a slight moulding along the upright edges – these mouldings it shares with the adjacent faces. The east and west faces show these vertical mouldings but, again, they do not appear on the north face as far as can be seen now. In addition, the east face has a plain Latin cross carved in recess or sunken just slightly below the surface…A flaw in the stone appears as an oblique line below this Latin cross. Likewise, the west face, what remains of it now, is covered with a large chequer pattern, alternate squares being sunken slightly below the surface.

The cross-head is not of large proportions. The projection of the arms beyond the ring has been damaged so that it is not possible to estimate its original height and width, the maximum height at present is 48cm while it is 68cm wide. The head is pierced; the arms are hollowed at the intersection and splay toward their extremities giving bell-like openings; the ring is narrow and thinner than the arms which are up to 18cm in thickness. There is a single, central boss in each face giving a total thickness here of 22cm. The boss of the reverse face is very small and insignificant, it is not more than 7cm in diameter and 2cm in height. It is quite plain and there is no other ornament on this face. On the obverse face, the boss is 15cm in diameter and approximately 4cm in height. It has a moulding around the perimeter and faint traces or ornament may, perhaps, be detected all over it, though it is not possible to recognise any patterns. The arms are outlined by shallow mouldings on the edges and it is not possible to be certain if there are traces of other ornaments on this face of the cross or not. The proportions of the head suggest that it may have belonged to the fragment of shaft which survives and, judging by the taper of the shaft, that the cross did not reach any great height’. Based on its form and decoration Prendergast suggests that the high cross dates to the 11th/12th century (ibid. 9-14).