Medieval Cross Base At Hexton Manor (4M To Nw Of Porch)

The medieval cross base at Hexton Manor, located 4 meters northwest of the porch, is a Grade II listed structure. It is the base of a former standing cross, likely a Palm Cross that was established in the churchyard following a bequest in a will from 1524. This cross was presumably removed in the later 16th century, and the base was recovered and repositioned when a school was built near the church in 1846 for Madame de Lautour, the Lady of the Manor. The base is made of hard limestone freestone and consists of a single square block that measures 2 feet 3 inches square and 11 inches high, as noted by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments around 1909. It features a central square socket for the cross shaft. The top of the base is octagonal with a pronounced edge-roll, and the transition to the square bottom is marked by a convex-topped stop at each corner. A cross is mentioned as standing by the town house door in a late 16th-century account of the parish by Francis Taverner.