William Slater Calverley

Who was William Slater Calverley?

The Rev. William Slater Calverley was an unassuming rural English vicar who through diligent study and painstaking scrutiny became an extraordinary amateur antiquarian. Although born in Yorkshire, Calverley claimed his fame through interpreting the carved sculptured relics that he and others found in Cumberland churchyards. He made intricate drawings, corresponded with academic authorities, and gave his own interpretation to meaning, which he then relayed to a wider audience. Calverley later reproduced in intricate detail a life-sized reproduction of the famous Gosforth Cross, which now stands in Aspatria churchyard.