CROSS, a figure consisting of four branches, at right angles to each other; or a geometrical figure, consisting of five rectangles, each side of one angle being common with one side of each the other four.
The cross, as the most prevalent symbol of the Christian religion, was often introduced into their architecture. Their churches, more especially the larger ones, were frequently built on a cross plan. and were decorated internally and exter nally with this symbol ; crosses of a highly decorative cha racter and beautiful desi-gn were often affixed to the apex of gables, and in the interior were depicted on the walls; a large ornamental cross, usually of wood, called the rood, was set above the screen, which separates nave and chancel, and a small one of metal, enriched with jewels, &e., on the altar.
There are two kinds of cruciform plans used in ecclesiastical buildings; one, in which all the five rectangles are equal ; or. in which each of the four wings is equal to the middle part fimmed by the intersection, is called a Greek cross. The o: her. in which only two opposite wings are equal, and in whi •11 the other two arc unequal, and the three rectangles in the direction of the unequal parts of greater length than the three parts in the direction of the equal parts, is called a Latin cross, the middle part in each direction being e. mutton.
Stone crosses were erected in front of the entrance to the church, and these consisted of a tall shaft raised on one or more steps, and surmounted by all ornamental cross ; the shaft was usually of a simple character, but sometimes enriched with seulpture. Besides these, there were boundary, memo rial, sepulchral. preaching, and market crosses.
Boandary-crosses were of a very simple character, being usually merely u; right stones ornamented with solo e simple sculpture ; meumrlal C1*0 ,se-4 of a like plaln description, there is a specimen at Blor.:-heath, Statlb•dshire. The crosses erected by king Edward 1. at the places where the corpse of his qt -:n Eleanor was rested during its progress from Lin colnshire to Westminster for interment, would probably come under this head, hut if so, they are of a very different deserip tion to the majority. Out of fifteen of these originally existing, only three now remain, at Geddington, Northampton, and Waltham : of those now destroyed, five are known to have been erected at the following places. Lincoln, Stamford, Dunstable, St. Alban's, and Charing. They were very ela borate structures, consisting of several stories of multangular plans, each story being somewhat smaller than the one below it, so as to give the erection a pyramidal form, having the apex surmounted by a cross, and the whole enriched with sculpture, statuary, &e ; that at Waltham consists of three stories, and is hexagonal in plan. the lower story is richly
panelled, the second canopied, containing statues of the queen, the third panelled, similarly to the lowest, and the whole finished at the top with a decorative cross.
The preaching-cross was a covered pulpit usually erected in the vicinity of a church, the most noted is that of St. Paul, Lon don, which was an erection of wood raised on steps. and covered with a canopy ; it was octagonal in plan, closed in on all sides, with the exception of the entrance and the aperture, through which the preacher addressed the people. Specimens of this class exist at Hereford, Iron Acton, Gloucestershire, and Holbeach, Lincolnshire.
Market-crosses seem to have been originally of a similar form to those of Queen Eleanor, but having open arches at the sides in the lowest story. In the later and more general form, the plan of the basement was considerably extended, so as to present a space of considerable size covered with a vaulted roof, and having a central pillar or pier to support the superstructure, which at the same time was much reduced in height ; the shape of the original plan was preserved, the only difference being in its size ; thus the market-cross at Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, is pentagonal, that at Salis bury, hexagonal, and that at Malmshury, which is a beautiful specimen, hexagonal. Other market-crosses exist at Win chester, Cheddar, and Chichester, and there were two excel lent ones at Coventry and Glastonbury. They served to shelter the people attending market front heat and rain.
The cross at Chichester is the most beautiful specimen of the kind. It is supported on eight buttresses and a central column, from which issue a number of ribs dividing the vaulted roof: between the buttresses are eight arches moulded, and surmounted by an ogee canopy, which is •rocketed, the finial supporting a pinnacle; the spandrels of the canopy are richly panelled, as are also the walls above, the whole being finished by a panelled parapet. The buttresses termi nate in crocheted pinnacles. The structure is covered exter nally by an ogee cupola, crocheted ribs springing ft om each of the buttresses at the angles, and the whole is surmounted by a small octangular turret pierced with eight arches, and otherwise elaborately ornamented.
Crosses of a simple character were originally erected at the entrance of towns and villages, at the intersection of cross roads and sides of highways. to arrest the attention of tra vellers, and excite their devotion.