The sandstone cross is now eroded to an 2.6 metres (8 ft 6 in) high obelisk-like structure, on a triangular base.[2][3] Some interlaced patterning remains.[4]
Although it once had an inscription reading "LEGS X", which was chiselled off post 1966, giving rise to the name.[3] It has been suggested that the cross was constructed from Roman masonry (nearby Piercebridge was once the site of a Roman fort) and that the inscription may have originally celebrated the 20th Legion (LEGIONIS).[citation needed]
Other theories for the origin of name include the fact that "legge" is the Anglo-Saxon word meaning "boundary."[1][5] It has been also suggested that James VI of Scotland (later James I of England) rested here, with his legs crossed, on his way south to claim the English throne.[6]