In the churchyard of Bakewell, Derbyshire, stands the relic of a monolith with short-limbed cross-head (Fig. 39). It dates from about 800 to 900; and, exclusive of the boulder which forms the base, stands 7 ft. 10 in. high, by about 2 ft. wide over all at the widest part. One portion is sculptured with four compartments of figure-subjects, presumably scriptural, the uppermost one being apparently a crucifixion, though the stone is too much curtailed, and the ornament too broken, for certainty on the point. The other face and the sides are occupied with so-called vine scroll, an adaptation of debased classical Roman work. [Illustration: 32. IRTON, CUMBERLAND CROSS IN THE CHURCHYARD] The two mutilated crosses standing side by side in the market square at Sandbach, Cheshire (Figs. 29, 30, and 31), have had an eventful history. Dating from the ninth century, it is on record that they were still standing in 1585; but, since they are not mentioned by Webb in 1621, the assumption is that they had been broken up in the interval. Anyhow, the different parts became dispersed. Some were taken, by Sir John Crewe, to Utkinton Hall, where they remained until his death in 1711. They were subsequently removed to Tarporley rectory. Thence, after Cole, the antiquary, had seen and made drawings of them in 1757, they were taken to Oulton Park, where they were seen and drawn by S. Lysons. Other portions, however, of these crosses never left Sandbach, some of the lower parts being built into a wall by the town well, while the summit was found to have been buried in a garden. Lastly, through the zealous instrumentality of Dr George Ormerod, the various fragments were collected, and re-erected at Sandbach in September 1816. "The two crosses stand on a substructure of two steps, with two sockets, in which the crosses are fixed. At the angle of each stage of the platform are stone posts, on which figures have been rudely carved." The head of either cross had been broken off, so that their proper height has been reduced. "The crosses are now of unequal height.... The taller one is 16 ft. 8 in. high; the shorter one, 11 ft. 11 in." high. Both crosses are of rectangular section, and tapering. It is not easy to convey in words an adequate idea of the extraordinary richness and variety of their sculptured ornament, which includes patterns derived from three-cord, four-cord, and eight-cord plaits, and figure of eight knots, as well as "much the finest series of figure subjects ... probably in all England." On the larger cross the Crucifixion amid the Evangelistic symbols, and beneath it the Nativity, with the ox and ass adoring, are clearly discernible; but the identification of other subjects is in many cases only conjectural. "The smaller cross bears a variety of human figures placed within ... lozenges." The stone of the crosses is of lower Silurian formation, practically indestructible by the natural action