OS grid reference: SE0109 4586. Inside the church of St Andrew on Skipton road at Kildwick (Childeuic), near Keighley, west Yorkshire, are several lumps of stone that have Anglian/Viking decoration. They are most probably cross-shaft fragments that date from the mid 10th century AD and are carved with scrollwork designs, interlacing and cable-moulding etc. One of the lumps of stone shows Christ holding an L shaped object, perhaps representing the Resurrection. Another shows a man with arm upheld, and a beast on each side, possibly representing Christ as the Good Shepherd. These pieces of cross-shaft may have once formed part of the Saxon churchyard cross that was erected in 950 AD when the first church was built.

    These fragments of ancient crosses are at the south side of the church near the Choir Vestry. They were discovered built into the interior wall above the chancel arches (south side) in 1901 – during restoration work, and had been used as masonry when the church was lengthened in the 15th century. Also found in 1901 were some pieces of a stone coffin lid that was covered with herring-bone patterns – again probably dating from the late Saxon period, while a stone in a recess near the top of the doorway has a maltese cross and a St Andrew’s cross carved onto it. The Octagonal font is of the 15th century and has a shield on each side with monograms or emblems. Close by there is an oak chest with three locks. The lid has a slot for “Peter’s Pence” moneys given as contributions for the support of the Pope in the Middle Ages.

Sources and related websites:-

Wood, Alec, History and Description of the Parish Church of St Andrew Kildwick-in-Craven, 1996.