An alternative symbol for Dartmoor could easily be the granite cross as there are so many to be found on and around the moor. There are several types; the wayside cross which often can be found marking ancient tracks and pathways. The village cross which at one time was the central focus of the settlement as was the churchyard cross. Then there are boundary crosses, market crosses and the more modern memorial crosses. It is estimated that today there are in excess of 150 examples still standing and the sites of around 50 others are known. This category covers those with a 'tale to tell'...

Via Crucis Via Vera.
The dark'ning shadows filled the vale,
The way seemed long and drear,
Rough was the track and hard to trace,
And none to guide was near ;
And soon my falt'ring steps were stayed,
Two paths before me lay,
Oh, for a friendly hand to aid
And show to me the way !

When lo, a rudely fashioned stone
From out the gloom appeared,
A moss-grown cross, in days long flown
By pious hands up-reared.
It showed a straight and narrow path
No more my steps would stray
And doubts had ceased to trouble now
That I had found the way.

'Twas thus when in the wilderness,
I tried to pierce the gloom,
And find a path to that bright land
That lies beyond the tomb,
The Promise of the Book shone forth,
And by its cheering ray
Revealed the Cross of Calvary,
And then I knew the way.

William Crossing

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02/03/2013