distance from hence is Tideswell, about four miles from Eyam.[5]
"Wheston," observes Mr. Rhodes, "though consisting of a few houses
only, is a picturesque little place: the trees which are mingled with
the cottages, are so abundant, and everywhere so finely foliaged, that
the place altogether, particularly when seen at a short distance,
appears more like a copse or wood than a village." The position of the
Wheston cross favours the conclusion already made as to the purposes
for which this kind of emblem was originally set up in England. It
stands in the village, _near the road-side_. The upper part of the
cross resembles in some of its ornaments the mullion-work of a Gothic
window: the shaft is unadorned, and more modern. One side represents
the infant Saviour in the arms of his mother: over their heads is a
faint indication of a star, emblematic of the ray that directed the
wise men of the East to the birthplace of Jesus. The reverse of the
cross exhibits the crucifixion of Christ, whose birth and death it
has apparently been the design of the sculptor to commemorate in the
erection of this symbol of his faith. Similar structures are by no
means uncommon by the road-sides throughout France, and to this day
the peasantry may be seen bending before them; while the drivers of
carriages on the most frequented roads are not unmindful of an act of
passing homage to the time-worn emblem.

[5] From King John, the Eyam estate descended to the Stafford
family, on whom it was bestowed in consideration of certain
military services, and on the express condition "that a lamp
should be kept perpetually burning before the altar of St. Helen,
in the parish-church of Eyam." The lamp has long since ceased
to burn, and the estate has passed into other hands: it now
constitutes a part of the immense property of his Grace the Duke
of Devonshire.