AINHOWE CROSS

Grid Ref. 724938

Ainhowe cross stands on a branch of the Beggers' Track which ran from Farndale to Rosedale. It is an 18th or 19th century replacement of a damaged original (in the crypt of Lastingham Church). It may mark the replacement of a bronze age stone, possibly phallic in origin, representing the sky god by a religious symbol. The estimated height of the original was 24ft, making it the largest known pre-Norman monument in England, and at 12ft, the present cross is the tallest on the Moors. The present cross fell down in the 19th century and again in 1994 (entirely because of the stupidity and inefficiencies of bureaucracy).

ANN'S CROSS ON TUMULUS

Grid Ref. 878002

Marks the point where the medieval road Calverleygate joins the Stonecrossgate (tracks known as the Panniermans' Causeway). The medieval base and part of the shaft may have replaced a stone on the howe which could have been of phallic origin. The path continued past Louvan Howe (where there was once a cross) to Lilla Howe to Hackness. It stands on the excavated tumulus on Foster Howes Rigg and joins a line of stones along the rigg marking the boundary of the Whitby Stand.

BAYSDALE CROSS

Grid Ref. 616059

This medieval base with broken parts of the shaft was found by Stanhope White. It stands on an old track known as the Flagged Road in Middlehead, Baysdale. Traces of the old flags can still be seen on Middle Head Moor. There may be traces of ornamental carving on the shaft pieces - or they may be trace fossils!? It would be a guide from remote Baysdale. There is a story that in the 13th century Old Ralph, a Rosedale man, accompanied the prioress of Rosedale Abbey, Sister Elizabeth, on to Rosedale Head Moor. There she was to meet Sister Margery, from the small Cistercian nunnery in Baysdale, to resolve a dispute between the two houses. The two nuns were lost in a dense fog. After an hour the fog lifted and Ralph found Sister Elizabeth in prayer near a large boulder and Sister Margery half a mile away. Baysdale Abbey was founded in 1200 but all that now remains are a few carved stones set in the walls of Abbey House which has been built on the site of the abbey. This is reached by crossing a quaint medieval ribbed bridge, the second oldest on the Esk.

BLACK HILL CROSS 

Grid Ref. 742046

Glaisdale rigg where the road up the rigg is crossed by a road from Fryupdale to Glaisdale. It may have been more of a waymarker than a cross. 

BOTTON CROSS

Grid Ref. 697020

A piece of broken shaft wedged into a medieval stone base. It stands beside the track from Fryup to Danby Castle. To the east a track known as Cut Road passes Trough House shooting lodge and continues past Dale Head to join Glaisdale Rigg. Botton is the old Norse for a deep hollow. On old maps the cross is referred to as Burton but as far back as 1234 the monastic records mention it as Bothine. 

BRANSDALE STUMP CROSS (BASEDALE)

Grid Ref. 606981

A track from Bransdale joins a possible extension of the Via Magma at this point. The cross has one of the largest bases being 2ft 6in square. In 1829 it was referred to as the cross with the hand (probably had a hand carved on the original) on Thurkilsti. In 1145 A.D. the Via Magma was called the Great Road coming from the Thurkilsti. The track connects Helmsley with Bilsdale.

CAEDMON CROSS (WHITBY)

Grid Ref. 900113

A highly decorated cross unveiled in 1893 by the poet laureate Alfred Austin, as a tribute to Caedmon, the father of English sacred song, who lived his life at Streoneshalh Abbey. Caedmon was a cowherd when Hilda was Abbess. He was shy and when asked to sing in company he would retire to his cattle. A stranger appeared before him and asked him to sing a song, which he did. He reported the event to Hilda who asked him to translate a passage of the scriptures into poetry. He did this admirably and was promoted to full brotherhood. Bede records the story in his great history.

COCKAN CROSS (Or COCKAM)

Grid Ref. 631990

Probably a waymarker, possibly of the 17th or 18th century. The stump of the cross is inscribed:- 

FARN DALE

STOCKLE ROAD

BRANS DALE

IRBY RODE

The base is medieval and the shaft the original. About 1735 Thomas Harwood erected four similar inscribed stones on Glaisdale Rigg. The cross stands just off Rudland Rigg Road, which crosses one of the largest stretches of uninhabited moorland, having been in use for over 2000 years.

COOPER CROSS

Grid Ref. 515830

Marks the point where the cross stood. It may have been a waymarker or have been erected by the faithful. The base is 2ft 3in square with a square socket (this is shallow and unlikely to have supported the shaft of a tall cross). It is on Hambleton Drove Road, which forks east to Tom Smith's Cross, and then South-East by Ampleforth High Street to Stonegrove and Malton. This branch of the Drove Road is probably more ancient than the Oldstead branch.

CROPTON CROSS

Grid Ref. 756893

The substantial round base is in the churchyard. The base of the shaft is rectangular but the rest has the corners removed to make it octagonal. There are attractive simple scrolls engraved where the section changes shape. One "nobble" where part of a corner has not been removed suggests that carvings may have gone all the way up the edges of a very impressive cross. A bronze tablet shows it to serve a tomb for five persons, the earliest 1767 and the latest 1816. A rhyme relates to the cross:- 

ON CROPTON CROSS THERE IS A CUP AND IN THAT CUP THERE IS A SUP TAKE THAT CUP AND DRINK THAT SUP AND SET THAT CUP ON CROPTON CROSS

Lastingham church grave cover has a cup-like top, while the base is similar to the Cropton base.

DANBY STUMP CROSS

Grid Ref. 744094 

The base and part of the shaft mark where the track from Waupley crossed the Stoxla Road. In medieval times the track 'Stonegate' joined the old road Lardgate at Beacon Hill. Three pieces of broken shaft lie to the side of the base. Danby Beacon was a lookout point to raise the alarm of Napoleon's expected invasion in the early 1800s.

DONNA CROSS 

Grid Ref. 545034 

The base of the cross has been cut into a large rock on the ancient pathway from Kirby to Chop Yat. The socket is rectangular. The rock has an E (Emmerson family of Easby Hall, Easby) engraved on its North side and an F (Fevershams of Duncombe Park) on its South side. A jet miners path ran past the cross. The cross is mentioned in 1637, in surveys, as a shaft in a socket stone boundary marker. A 1642 perambulations of the Honour of Helmsley mentions Donna Cross, when describing estate boundaries of the area. About 60ft to the north of the cross is an 18th century boundary stone, with NORTH engraved on the East side of the stone.