Preaching cross

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A Preaching cross is a cross, sometimes surmounting a pulpit, erected out of doors to designate a preaching place.

In Britain and Ireland many free-standing upright crosses – or high crosses – were erected. Some of these crosses bear figurative or decorative carvings, or inscriptions in runes. There are surviving free-standing crosses in Cornwall and Wales, in the island of Iona and in the Hebrides, as well as those in Ireland. Other stone crosses are found in Lancashire, Cumbria and the Scottish Borders, however some of these are of the Anglo-Saxon cross making tradition, like the famous Ruthwell Cross.