Distance shot of the Doe Park Cross Base 2016


The Doe Park Cross Base 2016

This cross base is probably Medieval; it is made of sandstone. A cross would fit into the socket hole to stand upright. It is said that this was used in the christening of calves every May Day. The remains here have been known about for some length of time; the Rev. W.R. Bell noted the stone in the 19th century in a general history of the Upper Teesdale valley.

The stone cross base stands in the field to the south of the Cotherstone to Romaldkirk road. It is rectangular in shape, and it stands on a rubble platform. It was one of two surviving cross-bases on the old route from Cotherstone to Romaldkirk church along which bodies were carried for burial. It was also called the Christening stone, as there was a tradition that a calf was christened there each May Day. This is now a Grade II listed building protected by law and a Scheduled Monument.