the church of st john baptist
Churchyard Cross
The remains of a 13th-century cross
In 1854, the Chantry next to the tower of St John's church was demolished in order to increase the churchyard space for burials. It was rebuilt in 1855 in its present position, opposite the west door of St John's church.
During the demolition of the Chantry, a fine carved head of a cross, probably a 13th century churchyard cross, was found built into the wall. It is likely that the cross was in the churchyard of the Norman parish church that preceded the present St John's church.
Towards the end of the 14th century, John Gamall, parson of Yeovil, requested in his will that he might be buried “in the cemetery of the church in Yevell in the ambulatory before the cross”.
The cross head
is now kept in
the Roman
Catholic
Church
of the Holy
Ghost in
Higher
Kingston with a
facsimile,
photographed
below, mounted
on a shaft in
front of the
church.
Gallery
This photograph
features in my
book "A-Z
of Yeovil"
This is a
replica of the
churchyard
cross, probably
13th century,
thought to be
the only
remaining
artifact of the
earlier churches
on the site of
today's St John’s
church. This
replica stands
outside the
Roman Catholic
Church of the
Holy Ghost,
Higher Kingston,
while the
original is kept
inside the
church.
