backgrounds, and black and white for the raised detail. Parts of the Sproxton Cross may even have been gilded. Most likely there were painted scenes, or even more probably, a painted Runic inscription running around the cross at this point. What its message may have been we are not likely ever to know, but it is worth bearing in mind that the 8th century Anglian cross at Ruthwell in Dumfriesshire has a crucifixion poem carved upon it, incised in Old English runes, and it is by no means inconceivable that the projecting band upon the Sproxton Cross may have borne a painted runic statement concerning the Crucifixion, or perhaps even more likely, a passage from the Revelation of St. John. As a last word concerning the Sproxton Cross, John Nichols tells us ‘the flowered fancy-work is very bold and perfect’. Sadly, erosion through weathering, but moreso through acid-rain pollution, has take place in the two hundred years since the cross was re-erected, and the carvings can no longer be considered ‘bold and perfect’ by any stretch of the imagination. In 1951 the cross was listed as an Ancient Monument, and in 1967 plans were made to have it moved inside the church, but this intention has not materialised. A word of caution however: moving ancient sculpture indoors is not necessarily a guarantee of preservation. The effect of changes of humidity levels inside an old church can have just as deleterious an effect as atmospheric pollution does outdoors, and the only real hope for the survival of the carvings upon the Sproxton Cross must lie with future reduction in emission levels from the burning of fossil-carbon fuels. Given that so many pre-Conquest and medieval crosses fell victim to deliberate vandalism at the time of the Reformation, it would be sad indeed if the Sproxton Cross, having survived the depredations of the iconoclasts, was to end up a victim of environmental damage. The Sproxton Cross has survived an entire millennium, even if for almost a quarter of this period it lay neglected and forgotten. Let us hope and pray that increased environmental awareness will ensure that the Sproxton Cross survives for well into the next millennial period.