NHER 64331 (Monument record) - Medieval cross base in St Mary's Churchyard

Cross base in St Mary's churchyard, 45m north of chancel. Previously recorded under NHER 8577.

December 1987. Listed Grade II.
Listing Description:
Cross base comprising socket stone. 14 century. Limestone. Square stone with stop angles. Above stop angles stone chamfered to octagonal shape. Square central socket.
Information from (S1).
P. Watkins (HES), 21 August 2020.

This is one of at least three stone crosses that once stood in Hemsby. At the beginning of the 19th century Rev. W. Gibbon suggested these may have acted as sanctuary markers, along with another possible boundary stone or cross base he had observed to the east of the church (NHER 8578) - see (S2). Gibbon recorded this particular cross base as lying "…about twenty-four paces north from the corner of the [church] chancel…". Although at this time it "….seem[ed] never to have been disturbed", when Cozens-Hardy examined it in the 1930s he noted that it did not appear to be in situ (S3). He was also dismissive of the sanctuary marker theory, which he regarded as "…unsupported by any documentary evidence".
P. Watkins (HES), 21 August 2020.

It should be noted that the discussion of the Hemsby crosses on (S4) draws primarily from the discussion of the santuary marker theory in (S5) and as a result has ended up being a somewhat garbled version of the information in (S2). There is no evidence to suggest that there was ever more than one cross in the churchyard - at least until the cross base close to the western entrance was moved there during the latter half of the 20th century (NHER 11738).
P. Watkins (HES), 21 August 2020.