Shorter Cross

Historic England's scheduling record (list entry 1009192) describes a well-preserved coffin-shaped wayside cross cut from a single piece of moderately coarse granite. The shaft tapers to a flat-topped head, and the cross has no arms and shows no sign of ever having had any. It stands on a grass and scrub verge on the north-east side of the lane from Middlecott to Week Down and Chagford, 2.5 metres from the tarmac. It was moved from its first position in 1873 and put here in 1900. The long side runs north-west to south-east and the visible height is 1.7 metres. The shaft is widest, about 0.45 by 0.27 metres, two-thirds of the way up. It lies in the parish of Chagford, about 2.7 km north-east of Lettaford.

On the south-west face a cross is carved in relief, reaching 0.54 metres down from the top and 0.39 metres across, with four panels cut back by 5 millimetres, and a small incised cross is cut between its arms. On the north-east face a larger incised cross, 0.39 by 0.34 metres, sits near the top. The head is about 0.25 metres square. A groove, perhaps from erosion, runs across the centre of the head and down both sides.

The cross stands on the top edge of a scarp above what looks like an old sunken lane, bordered by a wall and running south-east, which may be the original route beside which the cross was first set up. Historic England says its unusual shape and lack of a conventional head and arms make it at least an early medieval example, and it may be a Christianised prehistoric standing stone.

Sources: Historic England list entry 1009192, which cites Crossing, The Ancient Stone Crosses of Dartmoor (1902), page 139.

• Period: Medieval
• Status: Scheduled monument (Historic England list entry 1009192)
• Grid reference: SX 7136 8643 (approximate, from the listing's coordinates)