EARLY CHRISTIAN ART i foot long by 9 inches wide. The inscription, which is in Anglian runes and incomplete, reads : . . . . G H O .... ....HELG.... BtACKWELL. 1 Standing in the churchyard here on the south side is a cross-shaft 4 feet 1 1 inches high by I foot 3 inches wide by I foot thick, sculptured on the south face with interlaced work composed of a spiral knot with an extra twist ; on the north face with inter- laced work composed of knot No. 4 placed alternately facing right and left j on the west face with a six-cord plait having horizontal breaks along each of the outer edges ; and on the east face with interlaced work composed of Stafford knots with extra bands interwoven, as on cross-shaft No. 2 at Norbury, except that the knots face in a different direction. BRADBOURNE. When I visited Bradbourne in July 1885 there was to be seen standing in the churchyard the lower part of the shaft of a cross 3 feet high by i foot 8 inches thick. It is sculptured on the front (facing south) with the Crucifixion, having Sol and Luna at each side of the top arm of the cross, and the soldiers holding the spear and sponge on each side of the shaft below. On the back (facing north) are two round-headed panels, the upper one containing two saints with books, placed side by side ; and the lower one a saint holding a book and a bird perched on his right shoulder. Above his left shoulder is a rect- angular object. The other two sides (facing east and west) are decorated with scrolls of foliage, and an archer at the bottom in each case shooting an arrow upwards. At the time of my visit the remainder of the shaft, split vertically into two portions, was used as the jambs for the style in the wall of the churchyard. In August 1886 the two fragments were removed from the wall and placed together on the top of the stump of the shaft in the churchyard, when it was seen that the designs on all four faces were continuous. Above the Crucifixion on the south face are three or four panels of figure sculpture too defaced for the subjects to be made out. On the upper part of the north face are two panels containing pairs of figures much damaged. The continuation of the east and west faces shows that the archer at the bottom is in each case shooting at men and beasts involved in the scrolls of the foliage. The upper part of the shaft is over 4 feet high, which added to the three feet of the stump makes the total height of the shaft 7 feet. One of the pieces which had been removed to Tissington Hall was brought back at the same time that the upper part of the shaft was relieved from doing duty as the jambs of the stile in the churchyard wall. It is decorated with figures of angels on the end and one side, and with interlaced work on the top and bottom. The Bradbourne cross is described by the bishop of Bristol in Arch. Journ. xlv. 7: It was mainly owing to his exertions, assisted by Mr. Albert Hartshorne, that the restoration of this interesting monument was brought about. DARLEY DALE.* A fragment of a cross-shaft found during the restoration of Darley Dale church in 1854 is now in the Sheffield museum. It is i foot 7 inches long by i foot 3 inches wide by 1 1 inches thick. On one of the wide faces is a plait and ring pattern, and on the adjoining narrow face a twist and ring pattern. In the outer walling of the church, to the west of the south porch, is another fragment of a cross, built into the masonry in a vertical position. It shows an edge of interlaced knotwork and two rude human figures side by side. This fragment seems to have come to light in a restoration of 1877 and to have been then placed in its present awkward position. DERBY, ST. ALKMUND'S.' When the church of St. Alkmund, Derby, was rebuilt in 1845 several fragments of pre-Norman sculptured stones were found. The most interesting of these is a fragment of a cross-shaft now removed to the Public Free Library and Museum, where it has been standing in the open air exposed to the disintegrating effects of the weather for many years. It is 2 feet 9 inches high by i foot 2 inches wide at the top by 1 1 inches thick at the bottom and i o inches wide at the top. All four sides are decorated with beasts, those on two of the faces being arranged in panels with arched tops. On one of the faces is a bird. Several of the beasts are placed in a characteristic attitude with the neck bent backwards and the fore-paw upraised. Some other fragments found at St. Alkmund's are now built into the wall of the south porch. One or two of the pre-Norman stones found when old St. Alkmund's church was destroyed are now missing. Fortunately they were all drawn in Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. ii. 87. (See also Cox's Churches of Derbyshire, iv. 1 2 1.) 1 Journ. Derb. Arch. Soc. viii. 116 ; Cox, Churches of Derbyshire, i. 95 ; Reliquary, 1905, 104. 8 Reliquary, ii. 21 ; Journ. Derb. Arch. Soc. viii. * Reliquary, 1905, 106. I 281 36
