The Ruthwell Cross is an Anglo-Saxon stone cross in the style of an Irish high cross. It possibly dates from the 8th century, when Ruthwell was part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria due to the conquests of the Christian king Eadberht (737-758).
The cross is 5.50 metres high and is the most elaborate Anglo-Saxon monumental sculpture. It may contain the oldest surviving text, older than any manuscript of Old English poetry. It bears a Latin and a runic inscription. The runic inscription, which was probably added later, contains lines from the Old English poem "The Dream of the Rood".
It may have stood in a church, but it is more likely that it was erected in the open air. It could have been a preaching cross to help the priests spread the Christian gospel. Reading and writing were not yet widespread at this time, so the carvings would have been a useful tool for teaching and preaching.
A Church of Scotland act against ‘idolatrous monuments’ named the Ruthwell Cross in about 1642. The local minister reluctantly destroyed it, but seems to have taken care in doing so. The pieces were left out in the churchyard. By 1823, Henry Duncan had collected all the pieces he could find, and put them together, commissioning a new crossbeam (the original was lost), and having gaps filled in with small pieces of stone.
The cross was returned to the church in 1887, in a purpose-built apse, where it still stands today.
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