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Monuments: D

1. Durham

Image
RecordAuthor Máirín Mac Carron
ISODate 2002-07-26
Date 26 July 2002
PictureCredit Jane Hawkes
County Durham
Townland Durham
OSMapRef NZ 275425
Area England
GeneralContext Cross head fragment.
Location Durham Cathedral.
Dimensions 64cm (25.25'') high, 84.5cm (33.25'') wide, and 15.9cm (6.25'') thick.
GeneralContext Stone type: coarse-grained, massive yellow/grey sandstone.
GeneralDescription Cross head fragment, dated to second quarter of eleventh century.
GeneralDescription In the centre of the cross head there is what seems to be a baptism scene. The figure in the centre is holding up a long-handled object with a circular end in his left hand. To the right, bending in front of him is a side-facing figure, whose hand is held below his chin as though he is praying. On the left there is a three-quarter frontal figure who is holding a book in his right hand.
GeneralDescription On the upper arm there is a bird on a perch. Its wings are displayed and its tail is prominently fanned. Its head is turned to the left, and it may have something in its beak. There is a detached human head to the right of its head, and an angular crescent to the left.
GeneralDescription On the left arm there are two frontal figures. The one on the left has an exaggerated right shoulder, and in his right hand is holding a shafted cross. He has a book in his left hand. To the right there is a smaller, more indistinct, figure, who is holding a book in both hands. The right arm is a mirror image of the left, except for an additional triangular feature in relief between the inner figure and the roundel.

  1. Cramp, Rosemary, County Durham and Northumberland. Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture Series1st, Oxford University Press, Oxford. (1984) Stones, Sculpture, Churches, Anglo-Saxons, England..