 The Maen Achwyfan Cross is a monolithic Northumbrian-style cross that was erected ca.1000 A.D. to commemorate a person or event. Its decoration includes patterns copied from Viking art.
As one observer has noted, "The carvings on the cross are intricate, detailed and very varied. In one panel, there is a figure of a spear-carrying man, who is trampling down a serpent on a ground of whirls. Although some authorities list his as a unique design that is difficult to interpret, in fact it is an almost exact copy of a design found on the shaft of a cross at Burton-in-Kendal in Cumbria. In other panels there are basket-work and a design based on a saltire cross. Down the sides of the cross shaft, there are other carvings, including a person and some animals as well as a couple of series of interlocking rings. The wheel-head of the cross consists of a series of concentric circles, enclosing triquetrae, which make up the cross, and a central boss with a cross carved into it, surrounded by four circular pellets."
About Maen Achwyfan Cross
Crossing the Millennia: Maen Achwyfan
Megalithic Portal: Maen Achwyfan
Journey to Maen Achwyfan Cross
Maen Achwyfan Cross is set in an enclosure in the middle of a field on a minor road northwest of Whitford in Flintshire in northeastern Wales near the border with England.
Ordnance Survey Map (SJ129788)
Visitors Information
Visitors information for Maen Achwyfan Cross may be found at the CADW website. General tourist information for the area may be found on the Tourist's Guide to Flintshire website.
Additional Photos of Maen Achwyfan Cross
Maen Achwyfan Cross in Field
Sign at Maen Achwyfan Cross
Maen Achwyfan Cross
Close-Up of Maen Achwyfan Cross
Close-Up of Maen Achwyfan Cross
Side of Maen Achwyfan Cross
Close-Up of Opposite Side of Maen Achwyfan Cross
|
