Lilla Cross
Template:Rinding Lilla Cross is a marker on Lilla's Howe, on Fylingdales Moor in the North Riding of Yorkshire.
A story relates that King Edwin of Northumbria placed the cross there to mark the grave of Lilla, one of his thegns who saved the King's life during an assassination attempt. Whilst the current cross is believed to date to the 10th century, the original was placed there in 626. Even so, Lilla Cross is known for being the oldest marker of its type on the North York Moors.
The ancient cross marks the intersection of pathways across the moor, the edges of four parishes and is also a waymarker on the Lyke Wake Walk.
The cross is a scheduled ancient monument.[1]
Contents
History
The cross is located is on a hilltop known as Lilla's Howe, 959 feet above sea level.[2][3] This is a burial mound beside an old track known as Old Wife's Trod.[4] Several paths met at Lilla Howe as the cross became a waymarker,[5] especially for those trying to get overland from Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay to Pickering, (the path of the A169 road not being built until 1759).[3] The Old Salt Road, and the Pannierman's Way both intersected at the cross, and the cross marked the meeting point of four ancient parishes, and the edge of ownership of Whitby Abbey.[1]
Currently, the Lyke Wake Walk goes past the site of the cross, but the amount of walkers undermines the peat, destabilising the cross, and both the cross and the walk need regular maintenance.[6][7]
One of the stories for the cross is that of Lilla, a thegn of King Edwin of Northumbria, who is said to have prevented his master from being assassinated, and in doing so, was killed instead.[8] He was believed to have been buried under Lilla's Howe in 626, with the cross marking the spot.[9] Another part of the legend is that Lilla was a Christian, and King Edwin was so impressed with Lilla's behaviour that became a Christian too, being baptised by Paulinus of York, and placing the cross on Lilla's grave to mark his resting place and sacrifice.[10] Certain items of gold and silver dug up from beneath the Howe by the cross, were destroyed by enemy action in May 1942, during the Liverpool Blitz.[11]
The original cross is known to have been placed there in the 7th century,[12] however, the current cross is believed to date from the 10th century,[13] and so is the oldest one of its type on the North York Moors.[14] It was first mentioned in a document concerning a boundary charter from 1109. One section refers to Lilla Cros and another to Lillahou Cross. The gold and silver found underneath the cross, and the design of the cross itself, have been noted to be of a "post-conquest style".[15]
In 1952, Fylingdales Moor became a military training area, so the cross was moved to Simon Howe to keep it from harm.[16] After the military had finished training there, the cross was replaced in its original position.[17] As it is quite close to the warning station of RAF Fylingdales (the cross is on the boundary of MoD land),[18] contrasts have been drawn between the two structures, which are quite close to one another.[19]
The cross is seven and a half feet high and is styled in a "Maltese form". It marked the traditional boundaries for the parishes of Fylingdales, Goathland, Lockton and Allerston.[20] A letter G is carved on the north side, and a letter C on the south side; both annotating parish markers.[1] The war memorial in Goathland village, some five miles to the west, is a replica of the Lilla Cross.[21][22]
Location
- Location map: 54°22’30"N, 0°37’55"W
- Streetmap: SE889987
Outside links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 National Heritage List 1010076: Lilla Cross on Lilla Howe, Fylingdales Moor (Scheduled ancient monument entry)
- ↑ "Lilla Cross, Lilla Howe :: Survey of English Place-Names". http://epns.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/North+Riding+of+Yorkshire/Fylingdales/53286b0ab47fc40bc60000fc-Lilla+Cross%2C+Lilla+Howe.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Walker 1988, p. 17.
- ↑ Raistrick 1966, p. 89.
- ↑ Beadle, Brian (7 July 2005). "Fishy tale of murder at the inn with a smuggling past". infoweb.newsbank.com. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWGLNB&t=&sort=YMD_date%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22Lilla%20Cross%22&docref=news/10D8558A7763A1D6.
- ↑ Foster, Mark (25 April 2015). "Cash call to help save the Lyke Wake Walk". The Northern Echo. https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/14450545.cash-call-help-save-lyke-wake-walk/.
- ↑ Ross, Peter (20 September 2018). "Sole searching: the Lyke Wake Walk, North York Moors". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/sep/20/north-yorkshire-lyke-wake-walk-york-moors.
- ↑ Peach, Howard (2003). Curious tales of old North Yorkshire. Wilmslow: Sigma Leisure. p. 38. ISBN 1850587930.
- ↑ Raistrick 1966, p. 88.
- ↑ Walker 1988, pp. 16–17.
- ↑ "Lilla Howe". https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=62758&resourceID=19191.
- ↑ "Boundary Stones | North York Moors National Park Trust". http://www.northyorkmoorstrust.uk/project/boundarystones/.
- ↑ Morrison, John (2011). North York Moors. (2 ed.). Basingstoke: AA. p. 190. ISBN 978-0749568856.
- ↑ Elliot 2018, p. 111.
- ↑ Watkin, Jeffrey; Mann, Faith (2008). "Some Late Saxon finds from Lilla Howe, N Yorks and their context". Mediæval Archaeology 25: 156. doi:10.5284/1071660.
- ↑ Elliot 2018, p. 112.
- ↑ Boyes, Malcolm (1992). North York moors. London: New Orchard. p. 123. ISBN 1872226574.
- ↑ Jupp, Sarah (2006). Managing Heather Moorland at Fylingdales. Warminster: MoD. 13.
- ↑ Carstairs, Ian (1987). The North York Moors National Park. Exeter: Webb & Bower. p. 39. ISBN 0863501400.
- ↑ GCA 2017, p. 12.
- ↑ GCA 2017, p. 44.
- ↑ National Heritage List 476952: Goathland War Memorial (Grade II listing)
- Elliot, Albert (2018). "33: 1955 Lilla Cross on Fylingdales Moor". The History Tree; Moments in a Lifetime of a Memorable Tree. Danby: North Yorkshire Moors Association. ISBN 9780956577955.
- Raistrick, Arthur (1966). North York Moors;. London: H.M.S.O. ISBN 0117004855.
- Walker, Peter N. (1988). Murders and mysteries from the North York Moors. London: Hale. ISBN 0709035101.
