The pillar cross inside Kirk Maughold is the last remaining Parish Church Cross existing on the Isle of Man, similar crosses were once found near to the churchyard gate or stile of each Parish Church on the Island. (
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The Cross is made of St Bee's sandstone and was brought inside the church to prevent further deterioration of the carvings on its four faces.
There follows an extract from page 39 of "The Runic and other Monumental Remains of the Isle of Man" by Rev. J.G. Cumming:
"Plate XIII. Fig. 42 a, b, c, d.
At the entrance of the churchyard of Kirk Maughold stands a beautiful pillar cross of the fourteenth century, the four sides of which are presented in this plate.
From the nature of the stone (red sandstone), it has suffered much more from the weather than many of the more ancient runic monuments.
That its erection was subsequent to the Scottish conquest of the Isle, A.D. 1270, is plain from the occurrence on it of the shield bearing the three legs of Man. The junction of the legs on the shield is much more simple than is the case in representations of them at the present day, and they are turned in a different direction.
The chalice and book seem to point it out as being the memorial cross of some ecclesiastic, probably represented by the kneeling figure, which has been, by some fanciful authors, declared to be intended for St. Bridget, receiving the veil from St. Maughold. The ring and cross, the roses, cinquefoils, and oak-leaves, show that he was a person of some note. The nude figure of our Blessed Lord, on one face of the cross, and the group of the Virgin mother and child on the other, under deeplly-recessed and crocketted canopies, have been carved with much force.
The erection consists of three parts. The basement of three unequal steps, the slender octagonal shaft, four feet ten inches high, and an entablature three feet high, consisting of two quadrangular blocks stone. They have been fastened together with iron clamps and lead."
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Details of each of plates, shown on page 91, in Rev. Cumming's work is given below:
Fig 42a
Carvings on the head: Virgin and Child
Shields on the neck: Cinquefoil under a Crosslet
A Cinquefoil is an ornamental design of five lobes arranged in a circle, e.g. in architectural tracery or heraldry.
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Crosslet is a small cross usually with crossed arms especially : one used as a heraldic bearing
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Fig 42b
Carvings on the head: Knealing knight with oak leaf shield above
Shields on the neck: Square with palm leaf below
Fig 42c
Carvings on the head: Oak leaf with rose above it
Shields on the neck: Chalice
Fig 42d
Carvings on the head: Christ on the Cross
Shields on the neck: Three Legs of Mann
P.M.C. Kermode in "Catalogue Of The Runic Inscriptions and Various Readings and Renderings Compared" described this Crosss as follows:
"(Cumming, Fig. 42) At the entrance to the Churchyard of the Parish Church is a pillar-cross of the 14th century, of old red sandstone. Basement of three steps 9in., 8in., 14in. high -the upper one 27in. square. Shaft, octangonal, 4ft. 11 1/2 in. by 8 1/2-9in. Entablature 3ft. high by 14in. square. Above the moudling of of the square capital are four shields, bearing, in releief, the first a chalice, the next a circle with a cross above it, enclosing a rosette, the next a square device which Cumming takes for a book, below which is an oak leaf, and the last the Trie Cassyn or Three Legs conjoined -the earliest instance of the use of this device in sculpture in the Island. Above the latter shield is a canopied niche, trefoil, cusped, having a sculptured crucifix; on the opposite side a similar niche, cinquefoil, contains a figure of the Virgin and Child; the canopies of both niches crocketted and finalled; on the other sides are, a kneeling figure, and an oak leaf with rosettes. Above these are two smaller shields, the one with a rosette, the other with three oak leaves and a chief wavy."
"The Maughold Parish Cross"
"Although every parish in the Island used to have its own Cross standing near the churchyard gate or stile, this remarkable 14th Century monument, made of St. Bede's sandstone, is the only one remaining. From 1937 it stood inside the church, but, following extensive conservation work in 1989-90 by its guardians, the Manx Museum and Ancient Monuments Trustees, it now has a permanent home in the church.
The carving on the north facing shield is the earliest know representation of the Three Legs of Mann apart from that on the 12th Century Sword of State."
Source: "The Mauighold Parish Cross" - a leaflet available inside the church.
"Pillar Cross (Maughold Parish Cross)
"At one time every parish church has a cross near its churchyard gate or stile, sadly this is the only one remaining. Made of St. Bee's sandstone this cross dates from around 1300 AD. The four sided pillar displays different sets of images. One is the crucifixion with the three legs of man below, two is the virgin and child with a cross and flower below, three is a kneeling figure with an oak leaf above and plant below, four is a oak leaf with a rose above and a chalice below. The three legs of man symbol is the oldest stone carved example of this symbol in the Island. The pillar cross once stood outside the gates of the church but in 1937 was moved inside the church gates and in 1989 inside the church itself to protect the decaying carvings."
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