Earlier in the week we reported the consternation of historians over the sale of an Anglo-Saxon stone. Now the item has been withdrawn from auction

It was the Guardian wot won it. Perhaps. In Monday's G2 I reported that, to the consternation of archaeologists and historians, an Anglo-Saxon stone carving was to be sold yesterday by Bonhams in London.

The carving is part of a cross from Peakirk, Northamptonshire, a monument to St Pega, England's first female hermit, which fell into the hands of a couple called the Evereds when they acquired a former chapel and its outbuildings eight years ago. It wasn't regarded as part of the listed building; neither was it covered by the Treasure Act. So the fear was that it could disappear from public view or even go abroad.

But on Tuesday evening Bonhams withdrew the item. Mike Heyworth, director of the Council for British Archaeology, had written in protest to the saleroom. ("I'm sure the Guardian article helped," he says.) The Church of England, in the person of Janet Gough, director of its cathedral and church buildings division, had also complained to Bonhams on Tuesday, writing that "we consider the legal status of this piece to be unclear."

At the moment it isn't exactly clear what's happened to it, either, although archaeologists are hopeful that the cross will eventually find its way to Peterborough Museum. A Bonhams spokesman suggested that a private treaty deal may have occurred, in which the seller comes to a direct arrangement with a buyer; very likely someone who would donate it to the museum. The seller, Nick Evered, would not comment yesterday, although he hardly sounded like a man who had just won the lottery.