Cornish Crosses  

By Andrew Langdon

 For the Federation of  Old Cornwall Societies

Free DHTML scripts provided by
Dynamic Drive

Modern Crosses 

During the last twenty years and in particular since the millennium there has been an increasing interest in Cornish crosses. 

Today the stone cross can be seen as both a religious and a cultural symbol in Cornwall, while the image of a cross is often adopted as a logo by organisations, businesses and charities to advertise themselves as being part of Cornwall or a local group.  

During the millennium several towns and villages set up a granite cross to commemorate the occasion, some were set up as purely Christian symbols by church groups, while others were set up by local councils, history groups and Old Cornwall Societies and were also clearly intended as cultural symbols as well.

At Liskeard, no less than six crosses were erected by the Liskeard Churches Millennium Steering Group, one in the town centre on the Parade and others of the approach roads into the town.  At Helston a tall cross was set up beside the Penzance road at Sithney Common Hill by Helston Town Council and Helston Old Cornwall Society.   Another even tallest cross was set up at Bodmin town wall by a joint committee including members of Bodmin Town Council, the County Council and the town forum to mark the western entrance to the borough.  At the eastern end of Newquay a Celtic cross modelled on the Nevern cross in south Wales was set up again for the millennium, while further crosses have been set up at St Dennis, Mawnan Smith, Landrake, Redruth and Pelynt.

At the village of Rame in Wendron parish on the Penryn to Helston road a replica of an original medieval cross that once stood in the village was commissioned, the original being in the grounds of Scorrier House.  The cross was removed to Scorrier in 1849 as a garden feature and when Wendron parish council were unable to have the cross returned they decided to have a replica commissioned.  At Newlyn East a modern cross of Constantine granite was set up in a medieval base-stone that existed beside the roadside. 

Since the millennium many additional crosses have been set up especially in private gardens, sometimes replica crosses have been carved and even deliberately aged with chemicals to look ancient, while a number of concrete crosses have been sold at local garden centres.   Recording all modern examples has become necessary to prevent any confusion with original medieval examples in the future.