14 The Ancient Stone Crosses Moors. As fresh perambulations of the bounds were made, in all likelihood new marks were added, and Hobajon's Cross we may not unreasonably consider to be one of these. The mutilated cross which is at present to be seen, con- sists, as stated, of the top of the shaft and one of the arms only. The arm is ten inches in length, the shaft measuring sixteen inches from its upper surface, and being about four- teen inches in width. As the sides of it, however, are not quite parallel, the width is not the same throughout, but is rather greater at the top. It must have been a massive cross when in its complete state, with a breadth across the arms of about two feet eight inches ; its height, of course, it is impossible to determine. The fracture runs across obliquely from under the remaining arm. One side of the shaft is ten inches in thickness, the other only seven inches. It is now lying on the slope of the hill toward the river Erme, not far from the north-western cairn. From the absence of any other cross near the spot, I think we may safely conclude that this is the one that the jury, of whom Mr. Bate speaks, erected on one of the cairns on this hill ; and that it is also the old Hobajon's Cross is nearly certain, for, although the existence of this mutilated head is not generally known, the name still lingers here — a small heap of stones at no great distance from the top of the hill being called by the moor men Hobajon's Cross. This point forms the starting place when the bounds of a portion of the moor in this locality, over which the lord of the manor of Ermington exercises certain rights, are per- ambulated — the first record of such perambulation being in the year 1603. If the supposition be correct, as no doubt it is, that we now see on Three Barrows a portion of this ancient cross, we know that it must have been brought from the stone-row, as we have no reason to consider the map wrong in representing it as standing there, but other hands, I think, than those of the jury of survey did this. From the fact of the manor boundary mark bearing the name of Hobajon's Cross, it would seem likely that at one time it was erected there, in which case we should perhaps be inclined to consider that those who were engaged in marking out those bounds, were concerned in the removal of the cross; but I am of opinion that they were not those
