The date of the cross and the translation of its runes have always been controversial. However, it is generally believed to date to the late 7th or early 8th century and may commemorate the early Anglo-Saxon kings of Northumbria. F M Stenton in Anglo-Saxon England (1974) says the cross commemorated Alhlfrith, son of Oswiu, and his wife, Cyneburg, daughter of Penda.
Some scholars have suggested care should be taken as the evidence is unreliable and changes may have been effected by over-ambitious cleaning of the stone in the mid-19th century, and erroneous or deliberate re-cutting of the inscriptions.
Essay 5, The Bewcastle Cross in Runes and Runic Inscriptions: Collected Essays on Anglo-Saxon and Viking Runes by Raymond Ian Page & David Parsons, Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 1995.
It is often twinned stylistically with the Ruthwell Cross in Dumfriesshire, now preserved inside Ruthwell Church. This is carved in a very similar style and carries both Latin and runic inscriptions.