Page:Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries.djvu/428

 Of Dartmoor and its Borderland, 59 Bickleigh Cross is in appearance striking, being well placed, and mounted on a calvary, consisting of two steps. The lower one is a square of six feet, formed by four granite stones, each constituting a side. The upper step is constructed somewhat differently, the stones, of which there are three only, being laid side by side. Its surface is about two-and-a-half feet from the ground, and on this rests the socket-stone, which is twenty-five inches square at the bottom. This has a plinth nine inches in height, the portion of the stone above being hollowed out to within a few inches of the top, the upper edge being bevelled ; the surface in which the socket to receive the cross is cut, is thus reduced to a square of fifteen inches. All this, however, as well as the shaft of the cross itself, is of comparatively modern date compared to the head, which it is plainly to be seen is of some considerable antiquity, and it is a matter for congratula- tion that so much care has been taken to preserve this memorial of the old days. The shaft is thirteen inches square at the bottom, and of tapering form. It is nearly six feet high, and around the top is a fillet. The head which has been carefully fixed, rises twenty-eight inches above this fillet, and in addition to having been broken off from its original shaft, it has also sustained other injuries. Remains of much ornamentation in the angles of this cross, prove it to have been a very handsome one. The arms and top of the head are octagonal in shape. Bickleigh Church was re-built in 1838, by Sir Ralph Lopes, of Maristowe, the patron of the living. In the old edifice was a monument to the memory of Nicholas Slanning, who was killed in a duel with John (afterwards Sir John) Fitz, in 1599. Portions of this monument, which was in a very dilapidated condition, were preserved at the time the church was rebuilt, but previous to its demolition a drawing of it, with a copy of the inscriptions it bore, was made by the Rev. W. I. Coppard, of Plympton. The tower is ancient, and is surmounted by large crocketted pinnacles, and possesses a corner turret. From Bickleigh we shall take the road which leads into the Plymouth and Tavistock highway, just before reaching which, and not far from Roborough village, we shall notice an object in the bank, on our left, which will detain us for