Early Cornish Sculpture

This book is part of a major series published by the British Academy. Volume 11 surveys the county of Cornwall and provides an analytical catalogue of its early sculpture, highlighting the particular distinctiveness of Cornish sculpture compared to other regions. Readers may well be astonished at the range and scale of the Cornish monuments.

Introductory chapters set the material within its topographical, historical and archaeological context, considering it especially in relation to its development as Cornwall, at one time an independent Celtic kingdom, became part of the Anglo-Saxon realm. To fully illuminate the material, the volume includes specialist contributions on the geology of the monuments, the historical background, and the sculpture which continued the tradition of monumental carving in Cornwall after the Norman Conquest.

There is a full photographic record of each monument, taken for the most part by the authors, which highlights the fact that Cornwall, unlike some regions, has many impressive and complete monuments still surviving. A large number of these were illustrated by A. G. Langdon over a century ago in his seminal Old Cornish Crosses; however the present volume includes many stones not illustrated by Langdon and offers new interpretations and detailed photographs of others. The monuments with early sculpture include substantial free-standing crosses, altar stones, and some recumbent coped stones.The dating and context of a number of potentially early fonts and some simple cross-incised stones is also discussed.

The relationship of the Cornish sculpture to monuments in Wales, Ireland and Western Britain is of particular interest given Cornwall's position as a peninsula jutting into the western seaways. In this context, the potential role of Scandinavian influence is considered against the absence of evidence for Scandinavian settlement in Cornwall.