Cross (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – SO 9674 1321
Archaeology & History
First shown on a 1775 map of the region, this long-lost site is preserved in several place-names near the old crossroads a half-mile north of Elkstone village. It is mentioned, albeit briefly in Charles Pooley (1868) county survey, where he told that, “in former times a very handsome and lofty High Cross stood in this parish.” However, there’s the possibility that the name ‘High’ cross may here derive simply from a cross located at a high point in the landscape.
An old ‘Guide Post’ marked on the early Ordnance Survey map at the same spot has been suggested by Danny Sullivan—and not without good reason—to be a prehistoric standing stone. He may be right.
References:
- Pooley, Charles, Notes on the Old Crosses of Gloucestershire, Longmans Green: London 1868.
- Sullivan, D.P., Old Stones of the Cotswolds and the Forest of Dean, Reardon: Cheltenham 1999.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian
