Church of St. Andrew, two medieval grave slabs

Church of St. Andrew, two medieval grave slabs

HER Number
12200
District
Gateshead
Site Name
Church of St. Andrew, two medieval grave slabs
Place
Lamesley
Map Sheet
NZ25NE
Class
Religious Ritual and Funerary
Site Type: Broad
Grave Marker
Site Type: Specific
Grave Slab
General Period
MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Medieval 1066 to 1540
Form of Evidence
Structure
Description
1) slab of coarse orange/brown sandstone 1.49m x 0.49m x 0.42m, base missing. Now on the floor at the east end of the south aisle. Incised design, straight-arm cross with fleur-de-lys terminals, shears on right of shaft. Late C13 or C14. 2) slab of coarse orange/brown sandstone 1.89m x 0.55m x 0.48m. The edge has a moulding of two rolls with a hollow chamfer in-between. The cross head is an ornate double-ring form, the outer ring of 8 round-leaf bracelets and the inner of 4. The axes of the inner cross are set diagonally to those of the slab. The cross head is carved in relief within a sunken panel and parts of the design overlap the inner moulding. The remainder of the design is incised. The cross shaft rises from a three step cavlary base. On the right of the shaft is a two-line inscription, only the first half is legible. Boyle (1892, 607) gives this as: "HIC IN TVMBA LACET….. PRO ANIMA EIVS ORA……". The cross head form would suggest a date in the first half of the C13.
Easting
425280
Northing
557900
Grid Reference
NZ425280557900
Sources
Peter F. Ryder, 1985, The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham, Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No. 1, p 102; J.R. Boyle, 1892, Comprehensive Guide to the County of Durham, p. 607