Penmon Cross

Above photos show two sides of one of the crosses
The second cross	The church entrance the grass area was the Cloister of Penmon Priory

Penmon Crosses

The two medieval crosses that once stood in front of Penmon Priory, some say from the 10th century, are still in existence today, but are now inside the church, that was the priory church, and is now a parish church.

One cross is larger but badly weathered, because it stood outside in Penmon deer park until 1977.  It is almost complete except for about 30cm between the top of the shaft and the head. Its made up of three separate stones mortised together, the head, shaft and base. Its thought that it was carved by a group of craftsmen in Cheshire in the 10th century, and has Irish and Scandinavian influences in its design. 

The carving is worn and difficult to see but is thought to represent the temptation of St Anthony, with the saint facing you, and two animal headed demons either side of him. The base of the left side of the shaft also said to have a human figure and 4 animals.

This and the other cross, are in a church that is not well lit, and it is difficult to see them all that well, I could not make out any significant detail in the cross that looked like the description above, the photograph above is unedited, the two below are two separate photos, but I have greatly increased the contrast, and edited them to make every detail in the stone show up more. The one on the left I have also sharpened, while the one on the right I have not. From this you can imagine that you can see a face towards the bottom of the one on the right, and then locate it on the one on the left, but I have seen clearer images in clouds!

If I was going to have another go I would attempt it with flash at very steep angles to see if more detail could be seen.

The other cross is smaller, not as weathered but has an arm of the cross cut off because it was used as a lintel for the refectory windows. It has a modern stone base unlike the other cross. The head and cross on this one is a single stone. Its pattern is a Celtic knot in panel design, and you can see this. It is thought to came from the same time and place, although completely different. In addition to this there is another base from a third cross, but this is may be now being used as a font. The Abbey church is highly decorated and worth a visit on its own, its a mixture of styles and ages.

The Anglesey Coastal Path    also runs past here, so its worth stopping off to take a look.

Location: Penmon Cross, Penmon, Anglesey Grid Reference: SH630808 Ceremonial County: Anglesey Map Link: Get-A-Map    Multimap Aerial photo: Getting there: From Beaumaris Take the B5109 to Llangoed at Tre-Castell turn right down the road to Penmon until you reach the Toll Booth park up in the car park here outside the priory. Access: Within the Priory Church, now the parish church. Website: CADW Other Useful Websites: Wiki  Geograph Email: Address: Postcode: Telephone: Opening Times: Church open most of the time, Charges: None, but car parking charge for the Abbey and all items in this group. Nearby Locations: Penmon Priory      Penmon Dovecot     St Seiriols Well Penmon Lighthouse       Puffin Island Other Location Pages: Anglesey Coastal Path  Other Relevant Pages: Anglesey Attractions    Anglesey Attractions Map Notes:

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By: Keith Park	Section:	Key:
Page Ref: Penmon_Cross	Topic: Crosses	Last Updated: 07/2010

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