Page:Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries.djvu/520

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Of Dafimoor and its Borderland 141 brought the matter to the notice of Mr. Charles Cuming, who resides at Lynscott, and he removed the cross to a suitable spot. That its original site was not far distant is evidenced by the name of the field Cross Park at the entrance to which it stood. The cross is five and a half feet in height, and about eighteen inches across the arms ; on one face, between these, is an incised cross, the lines being seven and eleven inches long. As there is an old track very near by, which leads to Buttern Down and Fingle Bridge, it seems likely that the original purpose of the cross was to mark its direction. Lynscott is about a mile and a half from Moreton. There is another stone situated at about the same distance from Moreton, but in a different direction. It is known as the Headless Cross, and stands on Mardon Down, not far from the road to Clifford Bridge. It is sometimes called the Maximajor Stone, and in spite of its first-mentioned name, it is doubtful whether it ever was a cross. The stone which is of rude appearance, is six feet in height, about four feet in girth at the base, and about three feet at the top. Moretonhampstead is locally said to be *' twelve miles from everywhere,*' being about that distance from Exeter, Newton Abbot, Princetown and Okehampton. It is situated amid scenery of the most attractive kind, and as it can be reached by rail forms an easily accessible centre for the visitor. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is an ancient structure, and is remarkably well placed. At its eastern end is a field called the Sentry, a corruption of Sanctuary, whence the ground slopes very rapidly, so that from the further side of the depression the building is seen standing on a bold hill, while when approached from the west it will be found to he on the same level as the town. The tower is plain, with that sturdy look so charac- teristic of those of the moorland district. In the churchyard are a number of very old tombstones, fashioned from the granite of the neighbouring hills. We shall find the old Moretonhampstead cross just without the south gate of the churchyard, beneath an ancient elm. This tree, so long the glory of Moreton, has had its branches curiously trained, so that the upper portion once assumed a