There may be a
preaching cross, an old sundial on the tower, or stones where agricultural and battle implements were sharpened.
There is, however, among these stones, a preaching cross, that may be one of the earliest surviving in the Vale.
The preaching cross plinth is set on a stone base; that is not raised on the additional steps from the 1700s and 1800s that are seen elsewhere.
In the little square is the shaft of a 15th century
preaching cross and the Heritage Centre is from the same period.
We examined the steps of the Colwinston churchyard
preaching cross platform, with its tell-tale signs of wear and weathering, overlooked by 400-year-old yews.
No doubt there was once a
preaching cross at Holy Cross but now there is just the welcoming pub where we cross to Church Avenue.
The cross head capping a
preaching cross survived the Puritans purges of religious sites across Britain, unlike many others that were toppled and smashed with hammers, alongside many other beautiful religious icons.
Wyre Piddle retains its old
preaching cross at the centre of the village, has an early Norman church and a convenient position, two miles from Pershore, five from Evesham and eight from the cathedral city of Worcester.
Rare gravestones from the late 1600 stand in its yard and the shattered remains of a medieval
preaching cross, the victim of Cromwell's men in the 1650s.
``And just outside the pub would once have stood the old Town Hall and a
preaching cross.''
And these flocks, Rhatigan notes well, were not only to be found in the traditional church but at outdoor pulpits,
preaching crosses, at court and at the Inns of Court, at Parliament and at the University.