A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE
and a short portion of a shaft of a standing cross, decorated with various devices of basket-work or interlacing ornament.
The early crosses so completely described by Mr. Allen and Mr. Taylor now become valuable material for the history of Anglo-Saxon Lancashire. They are prima facie evidence of Christian churches at eleven sites, adding to our certain list recorded in the Domesday Book a further seven names, and confirming the existence of churches in four other cases. Nothing could be more valuable than such evidence; for the critical study of these monuments, together with the scanty evidence of records, coins, and other remains, throws some light upon this obscure period. The history of the settling, the organization, and the struggles of the successive peoples, however, cannot be traced in detail until the evidence of the early place-names is available and Celtic tradition has been carefully explored.
Especial thanks are due to Mr. Henry Taylor for the loan of photographs which he has had taken for his forthcoming work on early Lancashire crosses, many of which have been reproduced for the illustrations of ancient crosses accompanying this article. The author also wishes to express his obligations to the curators of the various museums in Lancashire and many others who have helped him in compiling this article.
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