Linscott Cross

Historic England's scheduling record (list entry 1009190) describes the shaft of a large medieval wayside cross cut from one piece of coarse granite with large feldspar crystals. It stands on rough ground well above a minor road, set back about 4 metres. It was moved here about 1900, having been used as a gatepost, and is listed Grade II. The arms run north-west to south-east, but the north-west arm is missing, only part of the south-east arm survives and the head is broken off. No socket stone shows. It lies in the parish of Moretonhampstead, about 1.6 km north-west of Moretonhampstead.

The cross is now 1.5 metres high. The shaft is neat and rectangular, 0.42 by 0.24 metres. The broken south-east arm projects 80 millimetres and is about 0.3 metres deep, and the head survives for only about 80 millimetres above the arms. A complete incised cross, about 300 by 195 millimetres, is cut between the arms on the south-west face, and part of another on the north-east face, where its vertical line was cut away by a slot. Three vertical slots, a round hole and a half slot in the middle of the north-east face may have been for an early form of gate hanging, though they are narrow and may have been meant to split the shaft in two. Cracks run between them, and an iron plug on the north-west face, 0.56 metres below the top, has caused damage and cracks of its own.

Sources: Historic England list entry 1009190, which cites Crossing, The Ancient Stone Crosses of Dartmoor (1902).

• Period: Medieval
• Status: Scheduled monument (Historic England list entry 1009190)
• Grid reference: SX 7409 8719 (approximate, from the listing's coordinates)