Wall, To West Of Priory Church Nave, Incorporating Medieval Cross And Lintel

NX 91 SE (INSET) ST BEES B5345 (West side) St Bees 8/68 Wall, to west of Priory Church nave, incorporating 9.3.67 medieval cross & lintel (formerly listed as part of Priory Church of St Mary and St Bega

G.V. I Priory Church of St Bega) Wall; C19 incorporating medieval fragments. Snecked rubble c7 ft high; flat coping. Full-height semicircular niche to centre with monolithic stone wheel-head cross c3 ft high of (early?) medieval date, probably removed to present position from Chapel How, c1 mile to north-east of St Bees on B5345 where it served as resting (or corpse) cross. Lintel spanning niche placed there in 1868 following its discovery embedded in late C12 south aisle wall. Various sources give dates from C10 to C12; shape and decoration suggest Irish/Norse influence and possible pre-Conquest date. Single stone with triangular upper surface. Interlace and knots to either side of central scene showing wyvern (no hind legs and 2nd, smaller head to end of tail) with head turned over shoulder, confronting warrior armed with sword, shield, and conical helm; said to depict St George, or St Michael (latter proposed as it was once thought to have come from St Michael's chapel, Rottington although little is known of this site), but the scene may be from Norse mythology rather than Christian.

Listing NGR: NX9685612108