However, amongst the stones were some that were clearly of a different kind. Chantrell had the first one, found beneath the bell tower, taken to his office. He cleaned the stone using a chisel and dilute acid. As a result, he asked the workmen to bring him all the similar stones that they found.

Exactly how many stones were found is not clear. Some of the stones were soon lost in an appalling act of historical vandalism. Chantrell gave a lecture for the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. Following the lecture,'very many fragments were carried away by cartloads, so that a vulgar curiosity put an end to research.'

When Chantrell left Leeds, he took the cross with him.

Over the next eighteen years Chantrell lived in various parts off the country, always taking the cross with him. The 'cross' was erected in the garden of whichever house Chantrell was living in at the time.

When Chantrell died, in 1875, those Leeds people who had an interest in the 'cross' thought it lost forever to the city.

Dr Gott entered into negotiations with the Court of Chancery who offered him the cross for the nominal price of three pounds, but before the Vicar had chance to remove it the property had been sold without reservation of the cross.

The new owner, a grocer, refused to allow removal and, when interviewed by a solicitor, stated that should the law be set in motion he would break the cross up into road stones that evening.

Dr Gott: - 'So I went down myself, saw him incognito in his shop, and asked him what he would take for the cross. 'A hundred pounds and not a penny less', he answered, for a rich man from Yorkshire wanted it much.

After some haggling I told him he had only one possible purchaser, and that no one out of Leeds would give him much for it, and no one in Leeds would compete with me; and at last he took my twenty-five pounds across the counter, and I removed it (the cross) that night.'

The Cross

The east face has a number of patterns carved into it. At the foot is an irregular plait terminated by a pair of volutes.(spiral scrolls). The panel above has a tight, closed circuit interlacing of a geometric type showing unmistakeable Anglo-Scandinavian influence.
The third pattern has an interlace of irregular form with a three-sided pattern. The top panel has an Anglian scroll with leaves and flowers.

The north face is divided into four panels. The bottom panel shows the figure of a man on whose shoulder rests a bird. The man holds a short sword aloft in his right hand. Below his hand is a geometric pattern, the top being missing, but which seems to have had five points. The best interpretation is that the figure is the mythical smith, Sigurd Fafnesbane.
That would take account of the bird and the sword and the geometric pattern could well be competed with a dragons head.
Above the figure is a knotted pattern formed from a single line - Anglian in origin.
The next panel contains another figure with what appears top be curly hair. His drapery ends in a wing and a tail. A part-man, part-bird suggests an angel.
The panel above has a loose knot pattern typical of later Anglian forms.
The uppermost stone completes a ring-knot pattern.

The west face has an Anglian scroll, again with leaves and flowers.

The south face is perhaps the most interesting.
The panel at the foot portrays another mythological smith, Weland a character appearing in a range of common folk tales across northern Europe.
The second panel has a robed figure holding a book in his right hand. The caped figure has what appears to be a halo or his hair set into pigtails.
The identification of the figure depends on the interpretation of the hair and robe.
If a halo then the book and cape indicate an evangelist. If not halo then two possibilities exist. First, it may be a hero or warrior from a myth of the time. Alternatively, and more plausibly, the figure may be a representation of the person responsible for the making of the cross. The figure is the most prominent on the main face of the cross.
The topmost panel, which is badly defaced, contains a haloed figure wearing a robe. Above the figure, on the top edge, are what appear to be ends of claws and wings. Given that the figure is clearly a saint the most likely interpretation of the claws and wings is that they are of an eagle, making this a representation of St John the Evangelist.

How the cross was made

Most of the stones that make the Leeds cross are made from millstone grit, a stone for which there are possible local sources. Little is known about the organisation of the local quarries but the use of local stone for buildings in the locality suggests that the quarries were being exploited at this time (9-10th C). However, some stones could have been re-used from derelict Roman buildings.

Other examples of the carved decorations on the cross have been found on stones from Ilkley and Collingham.

A range of tools was used for the carving; punches, drills, chisels, all made from iron. For larger items pieces of stone would have been joined together using a mortise and tenon technique.
The design would have been scribed onto the surface of the stone.
Once complete, the stone would be painted. The paint coverings have long since disappeared from the stones.
A plaster of gesso would be applied prior to the final coatings. This was quite normal as churches were, at this time, highly decorated and colourful. The usual colours, of which traces survive, are red, white and black, the red pigment, often used as a background, survives in many examples.
The paint not only covered up the carving lines and any defects in the stone but also allowed finer details to be added.

In the 9th-10th century, Leeds appears to have been on a trade route from York to Lancashire and Ireland (Dublin was a Viking stronghold), and judging by the designs on the stones, which are Anglian in origin, Leeds lay on, or just outside, the border with the Viking territories.

The Other Stones

It is not known how many stones Chantrell and his workmen recovered. In addition to those used to construct the Leeds Cross there are six stones in the Leeds City Museum.
Photographs exist of two more stones that the Museum had but seem to have mislaid!
Perhaps now that the museum is moving locations the staff may find them - isn't it strange what you re-discover when moving home?

Of the missing fragments the one known as 'Stone 9' appears to be the most interesting.
From contemporary reports (1870s) the fragment was 11.5 inches by 10 inches and 8 inches thick. On the stone is the incomplete inscription CUNU
ONLAF

As there is no indication as to the original size of the stone we may never know what the original inscription say declared, however, if we assume the 'CUNU' is part of the word 'CUNUNC (an early for of 'King') then the stone may refer to King Olaf.
That leads to further speculation as there were numerous King Olafs in the north of England in the 9-10th C. Again, as we don't know the original size of the stone, it may not refer to King Olaf at all but to some other king who did something or other to a man called Olaf.

We may never know, but perhaps, in an old garden rockery somewhere………….