Author Carol Needham
You can see Southrepps Stump Cross at a cross roads just outside the village on the Mundesley Road.
It is the remains of a Wayside Cross, (National Monument 31120) probably erected about 1366CE, possibly to mark the Ecclesiastical holding of the Nunnery of the Convent of the Poor Clares of Brosyard (Bruisyard) in Suffolk who had a benefactor in the Manor of Southrepps or The Cross may also have been a way marker for pilgrims en route to Bromholm Priory in Bacton.
The original Cross would have been destroyed during the Reformation or removed under an Act of Parliament in 1643 which outlawed Crosses in open spaces.
In 1932 the base of the Cross was found by road menders. The County Council had this base set on a stone plinth on the grass verge near to it’s original site. Remarkably, the shaft was found in Trunch Rectory garden and reunited with the base.
In 1993 Lord of the Manor, Peter Sladden who owned the land decided to plant 10 oak trees on the site commemorating members of the Royal Family and village organisations. They are known as the Queen’s Oaks. Eight trees still remain. A flagpole was also erected on the site.In 2000 to mark the Millenium, villagers decided to build a new base for the Cross into which was placed a time capsule containing all sorts of interesting then current information and objects
Prior to the death of Peter Sladden in 2017, The Union Flag was hoisted on many occasions and a Beacon was lit to mark Midsummer and important events.
