Harrinson Testimonial Cross

The Harrinson Testimonial Cross is a commemorative cross designed by Spencer Slingsby-Stallwood and erected in 1887. It was restored in 2023. The monument is made of Portland stone, with a lower base constructed of red brick.

The cross is designed in a Gothic Revival style and features a tapering octagonal shaft topped with a crocketed and canopied pinnacle that is capped by a cross. Below the cross is a stepped octagonal base, which has floral carvings on the uppermost part and bears the inscription: ‘By Thy Cross and Passion Good Lord Deliver Us’. The lower body of the cross is decorated with Gothic blind tracery that includes shields displaying the arms of Harrinson, the Borough of Reading, the Diocese of Salisbury, and the Diocese of Oxford. The lower part of the base consists of four plain octagonal steps.

The restored western face of the top step has the inscription: ‘Erected / by public subscription to record the munificence of / ISAAC HARRINSON Esq. / by which the improvements in St. Mary’s Butts / were brought to a successful completion / A. D. 1887 / The year of the Jubilee of Queen Victoria.’ Below this, on the step beneath, is the faint outline of metal lettering, now lost, which originally read: ‘Architect - Mr S Slingsby Stallwood / Builders – Messers. Wheeler.’ Beneath the lowermost stone step, there are two courses of brickwork laid in header bond.