Below the tower, at the west end of All Saints Church in Ilkley is a display of carved stones, of various ages. The tall stones were carved during the Saxon period (late 8th century - early 9th century), and are intricately decorated with biblical themes or decorative scroll work.
Although the tallest shaft has a cross head on it, the head was not found in the same location as the shaft, so are unlikely to have originally been part of the same cross, but they do give a good impression of what a complete cross would have been like.
The oldest stones are Roman altar stones (one shown top left in this collage) and there are two of these behind the Saxon cross shafts. They have been much altered and reused over the centuries (as I explained yesterday).
fascinating to see the rough ancient stone work against stain glass windows
Thanks for explaining the story behind the stones. Find it very intriguing indeed
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, which put this shot on the Popular Page.
I think it's wonderful that these stones have survived so long, and that it is still possible to understand some of the meanings of the images on them - like a message from 1100 years ago!
@casablanca Thank you Casablanca, Katharine was in real need of encouragement earlier. Her mid line started leaking just as she finished her antibiotic infusion, so it's a trip to hospital tomorrow to have the mid line removed. It looks like it will be a trip to hospital each day for a few days to have the infusion, since it's hardly worth putting in a new mid line for less than a week of infusions. This certainly hasn't been an easy or straight forward process!
Thanks for explaining the story behind the stones. Find it very intriguing indeed
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, which put this shot on the Popular Page.
I think it's wonderful that these stones have survived so long, and that it is still possible to understand some of the meanings of the images on them - like a message from 1100 years ago!
Ian
Ian
I hope Katharine is doing ok
Ian