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Giant's Thumb, Penrith
Giant's Thumb
site name:-   St Andrew's Church
locality:-   Penrith
civil parish:-   Penrith (formerly Cumberland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   cross
coordinates:-   NY51623016
1Km square:-   NY5130
10Km square:-   NY53

photograph
BMC54.jpg (taken 12.5.2006)  
photograph
BOH13.jpg (taken 17.10.2007)  
evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Cmd 58 4) 
placename:-  Giant's Thumb
source data:-   Maps, County Series maps of Great Britain, scales 6 and 25 inches to 1 mile, published by the Ordnance Survey, Southampton, Hampshire, from about 1863 to 1948.
evidence:-   old text:- Camden 1789 (Gough Additions) 
placename:-  Giant's Thumb
source data:-   Book, Britannia, or A Chorographical Description of the Flourishing Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by William Camden, 1586, translated from the 1607 Latin edition by Richard Gough, published London, 1789.
image CAM2P189, button  goto source
Page 189:-  "... a stone called the Giant's Thumb, six feet high, 14 inches at the base contracted to 10, which is no more than a rude cross, such as is at Langtown in this county and elsewhere: the circle of the cross 18 inches diameter. ..."
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843) 
placename:-  Giant's Thumb
source data:-   Guide book, A Description of Scenery in the Lake District, by Rev William Ford, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, by W Edwards, 12 Ave Maria Lane, Charles Tilt, Fleet Street, William Smith, 113 Fleet Street, London, by Currie and Bowman, Newcastle, by Bancks and Co, Manchester, by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, and by Sinclair, Dumfries, 1839.
image FD01P131, button  goto source
Page 131:-  "[Penrith] ... In the churchyard is a curious relic of antiquity, called the Giant's Grave, ... Near them is another pillar named the Giant's Thumb, but it is six feet in height. ..."
evidence:-   old text:- Harper 1907
source data:-   Guidebook, The Manchester and Glasgow Road, by Charles G Harper, published by Chapman and Hall Ltd, London, 1907.
HP01p134.txt
Page 134:-  "... A stone, really the head of an ancient cross, near by, is said to mark the place where the giant's thumb is buried."
evidence:-   old print:- Calverley 1899
item:-  cross
source data:-   Photograph by James Huff.
image  click to enlarge
CV1133.jpg
item:-  JandMN : 190
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- 
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, Monumental Stone, Penrith, Cumberland, ie the Giant's Thumb, drawn by G Arnald, engraved by J Greig, published by W Clarke, New Bond Street, 1817.
image  click to enlarge
PR0110.jpg
Included in the Antiquarian Itinerary. 
printed at bottom:-  "Engraved by J. Greig from a Sketch by G. Arnald for the Antiquarian Itinerary. / Monumental Stone, Penrith, Cumberland. / Published for the proprietors June 1. 1817. by W. Clarke. New Bond Street."
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2008.107.110
Image © see bottom of page
person:-    : Owen Caesarius
date:-   920
Norse cross in the churchyard, called the Giant's Thumb. It is believed to have been erected in 920 as a memorial to his father, by Owen Caesarius, King of Cumbria, 920-937.
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