Butter Cross (Shepherd's Cross)

I had a few lovely friendly responses to my request for information on that stone over on the Megalithic Portal. This stone in particular isn't very old at all, a few hundred years or so. It was suggested that it had been moved to be used by cattle as a rubbing stone (ever seen cows having a scratch on random objects in fields?); on James's farm videos you see a modern equivalent for the cows to have a good scratch, a large spinning brush at back height. It feels good to have an answer to this query and also to be learning more about the ancient sites local to me. I picked up a copy of Stone Circles of the Peak, felt a little daunted by the lack of pictures and all the diagrams but the writing style is very accessible and extremely interesting. This interest has been percolating for a while, ignited due to my reading Alan Garner's book Thursbitch last year.
As previously mentioned, I'm continuing with a period of creative block and complete ****ed off-ness with everything ART and art selling related. I can't quite let go of my arty side or the feeling that I want to make pictures, so I'm going back to basics, slowing right down, not accepting commissions and basically just taking some time off to read, research, visit places and start to enjoy the process of painting again. I have considered getting a proper job again but with childcare and also the trapped feeling it gives me I think I'd prefer to scrape by for a while.

Here are some photos of the Butter Cross on the outskirts of Biddulph. It's on the road near to the Talbot pub. You turn right (out of the Talbot carpark) and walk up the hill a little way and it is situated on the left hand side, recessed from the road (the hedge wraps around it). Opposite is a stone trough (can't remember if it's a pair, looks as though one has been removed).
The people who know about this sort of thing reckon that it might be an older stone which has been Christianised at some point. If you look at the first photo you can see what look like the features of a face.

From my reading last night I learnt that due to the more modern ways of thinking (in the last 300 years or so) the superstitions surrounding the stone circles of England largely died out and this led to stones being moved and removed and sites being damaged or lost. Local to me, the Bridestones was thought to have been a much larger site but has been damaged and many stones pilfered over the years. Rumour has it that some stones were taken to my favourite park (Tunstall Park - Noooo!).

Stones

I've become rather pre-occupied with standing stones lately. I've been completely shutting down all my painting (I'm at a brick wall with it and have no focus), and I want to start painting the stones that I find and the places that speak to me. This stone has puzzled me for ages; it's located in a field opposite the Foxhound pub (currently closed & for sale by informal tender) on Biddulph Moor. There is a path along the edge of the field and the stone is in the middle of the field. There is a lightweight fence alongside the path (the type you could duck under), and horses sometimes graze here.
The markings on the stone suggest to me that it might have been part of a pair, possibly for putting bars in? Looks as though they would sort of slot in - can you tell that I know absolutely nothing about this type of thing!? I'm hoping to rectify this with some beginners reading material on the (vast) subject. The only problem with this theory is that logically a person would be much more likely to build fence posts and horse jumps from wood, the work that will have gone into this is far greater than the equivalent in wood, and where is the other half of it?

If you're knowledgeable about this type of thing then please feel free to enlighten me.