Copeland became part of the diocese of Carlisle in 1856.

The cross, called the 'Cross Lacon', along with its shaft, is carved from one piece of stone and is of wheel head type with the top arm missing. It is presently sited in a private garden S of the stables (called also the Dower House) of Rheda Mansion in Rheda Park. Rheda is an area located a short distance SW of the centre of Frizington (previously spelt Frisington). The mansion of Rheda was sold in the 1950s and demolished in the 1970s; only the stables and a lodge cottage now surviving. The cross had been moved to this site in 1911, as inscribed on the modern base. But before it was moved to this site, it had already been shifted to a garden wall of Rheda East Lodge, near the S gate, for security reasons. Prior to this, and at least as early as 1774, it was sited at a place called Crosslacon, marked on the map of Thomas Donald of that date as ‘Croslakin’. In 1860, it was still located at Crosslacon, near the residence of Thomas Dixon, whose seat was at Rheda, Rheda having been acquired by the Dixons through marriage in 1617. The Dixons built a 17th-c mansion, which was then rebuilt in 1881-83 and much enlarged in 1900-06. Although in 1867, on the Ordinance Survey Map, the cross was marked again as being on the same site as in 1774, shown located along the road which has since been numbered B5294, it appears that Thomas Dixon was responsible later in the 19thc for moving the cross to a garden wall of Rheda East Lodge. It has also been stated that the reason it was moved was due to its being repeatedly attacked by people throwing stones at it and causing damage. In its first location, the cross was secured in the ground by rocks, but no proper base stone was found. The existing base was made when the cross was moved to its present site, now the gardens of a modern house but formerly the gardens of the Rheda Mansion House.

Nothing is known about the early history of the cross. Frizington was in the parish of Arlecdon, which was part of diocese of York. The church at Arlecdon, in the deanery of Copeland, was given to Calder Abbey by John le Fleming (grandson of the first Michael le Fleming) in 1241, but it was not long afterwards, in 1262, appropriated to the archdeaconry of Richmond. There was no known medieval church at Frizington, but the manor was separate from that at Arlecdon.

The earliest known siting of the cross, and most likely the original placement, along the modern-day B5294, was in the Fee of Beckermet, within the Barony of Egremont. Michael le Fleming is thought to have received Beckermet, Frizington, Arlocdon and other places in Cumberland from William le Mechines, Baron of Egremont. William le Machines, himself, seems to have been given the Barony of Copeland by Randulf le Mechines about 1120. William then moved the caput of his barony from Cockermouth to Egremont, where he built a castle. The seat of the lordship of Beckermet was at Caernarvon Castle (Beckermet). It was Michael le Fleming’s second son, Richard le Fleming, who seems to have first established his seat there. The manor of Frizington was held by the family who took the name ‘de Frisington’. The earliest of this name, Henry (appearing about 1200-10), as well as several successors of the Frisington family are to be found as witnesses to charters of the priory of St Bees. During the reign of King Edward II Mary, daughter of Hugh le Fleming, married Ralph de Frisington. An Intail (recorded 1326) took place by which Ralph of Frisington and his wife were given the manor of Frisington for life, and thereafter to be passed to their son Thomas and his heirs. John, the final witness named in the St Bees register as ‘de Frisington’, was last recorded in 1392. The Frisington male line ended in the reign of Henry IV and the manor of Frisington was left to three daughters as co-heiresses. It was then sold to John Leigh, and subsequently to others.

There appears to be no medieval reference to the cross, and its original use as a road cross seems likely. Most road crosses in Britain no longer survive along roads, which often makes their intended siting impossible to determine, but such crosses do still exist in situ, both in Britain and on the continent. It was thought that bodies being taken to St Bees stopped at this cross as part of the burial service, but no basis for this idea has appeared. Another possibility that has been put forward in the past is that the cross was used as a boundary marker, though the site along the road is not on any known boundary.

The shape of the cross head, with curved, flaring arms emanating from a large central roundel makes it likely to be post-Conquest. It is not unlikely that it dates from the 12thc, but it could also be late 11thc or early-13c. Certain comparisons with the crosses at Cleator and St Bees can be made.