A PREVIOUSLY unrecorded granite cross has been discovered by a group of walkers on Northern Dartmoor.

Ron's Ramblers, a group of former dockyard workers from Plymouth, were enjoying one of their regular Dartmoor walks when they spotted the cross set into a corn ditch wall close to Great Nodden near Bridestowe.

Corn ditches originate from the time when Dartmoor was a royal hunting area and there was a need to keep the King's deer out of the cultivated land. A stone revetted wall and external ditch faced onto the open moor which deterred deer and other animals from jumping over, while the sloping grassy bank on the inner face allowed those animals which had entered to exit again without difficulty.

The wall, known as the King Wall, lies close to Great Nodden, along an ancient route known as the King Way.

The cross is cut in relief on one side. This is a method of carving where the design stands out from the surface in a raised fashion. The lower part of the cross shaft has broken off, but is believed to have been more than two metres high when complete.

It is thought likely that this was once a wayside cross marking an ancient route.

The King Way is the Tavistock to Okehampton section of the old coaching route between London to Plymouth, along which the King's mail was taken.

The King is believed to be Charles I but it is thought probable that the route was in existence long before this period, and could be associated with Tavistock Abbey and Lydford; both of which have Saxon origins.

Andrew Langdon, an expert on Cornish crosses, has looked at the cross and feels that it is probably post-Conquest in date. The design of the cross is described as being Greek rather than Latin, which is a style more commonly found in Cornwall than on Dartmoor.

The cross has been temporarily removed to Dartmoor National Park Authority's works yard while a new base is made for it by the authority's stone mason. It will then be returned and re-erected on the spot where it was discovered.