Market cross

The elaborate Malmesbury market cross

French market with cross, Template:Circa

A market cross, or in Scots, a mercat cross, is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. Template:TOC limit

History

Market crosses were originally from the distinctive tradition in Early Medieval Insular art of free-standing stone standing or high crosses, often elaborately carved, which goes back to the 7th century. Market crosses can be found in many market towns in Britain.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> British emigrants often installed such crosses in their new cities, and several can be found in Canada and Australia.<ref name="Seiyaku" />

The market cross could be representing the official site for a medieval town or village market, granted by a charter, or it could have once represented a traditional religious marking at a crossroads.<ref name="Seiyaku" >Template:Cite web</ref>

Design

These structures range from carved stone spires, obelisks or crosses, common to small market towns such as that in Stalbridge, Dorset,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to large, ornate covered structures, such as the Chichester Cross,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or Malmesbury Market Cross.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They can also be constructed from wood; an example is at Wymondham, Norfolk.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Towns and villages in the British isles with a market cross

A

• Aberdeen<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Aberford<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Abbots Bromley<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Aldbourne<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Alfriston<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Alnwick<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Alston<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Ambleside<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Ashbourne<ref>Template:Cite web Ashbourne had a market cross up to 1790. It now has a 19th century monument known as the market cross, dedicated to industrialist Frederick Wright.</ref>
• Austwick (Base and pillar remaining)<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Askrigg<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Austwick<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Aylburton<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

B

• Banbury<ref>Template:NHLE This is a grand Victorian replacement on the site of an earlier cross.</ref>
• Barnard Castle<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Barrow upon Humber<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Bawtry<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE These two listings appear to refer to the same market cross</ref>
• Bedale<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Belford<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Beverley<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Billesdon (x2)<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE Billesdon has two market crosses</ref>
• Bingham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Bingley<ref>Template:NHLE Re-erected at Old Market Hall 1984</ref>
• Binham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Bishops Lydeard<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Bodenham<ref>Template:NHLE The stump of the market cross is close to the war memorial column</ref>
• Bonsall<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Boroughbridge<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Bottesford, Leicestershire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Bourton, Vale of White Horse<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Bovey Tracey<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Brandesburton<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Brigstock<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Bromborough<ref>Template:NHLE Base 1278, top 1874 Gilbert Scott</ref>
• Brough (Original block and socket remaining)<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Buckingham<ref>Template:NHLE Square base and shaft remaining</ref>
• Bungay<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Burnley<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Bedlington<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Bury St. Edmunds<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Burton-in-Kendal<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Buxton<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

C

• Caldbeck<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Carlisle<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Castle Combe<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Castle Rising<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Chapel-en-le-Frith<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE These two listings appear to refer to the same market cross</ref>
• Cheadle, Staffordshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Cheddar<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Chester<ref>Template:NHLE Also known as the market cross</ref>
• Chichester<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE NHLE has two separate records for the same Chichester market cross</ref>
• Chipping Sodbury
• Chipping Warden<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Colne<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Clowne<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Corbridge (x2)<ref>Template:NHLE The 19th century one</ref><ref>Template:NHLE The one with the (probable) Roman shaft</ref>
• Corby Glen<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Corfe Castle<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• CoventryTemplate:Refn
• Crich<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Cricklade<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Culross<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Culworth<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Cumnock<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:Colend

D

• Dalton-in-Furness<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Darlington
• Devizes<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Dunchurch<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Dundee
• Dunkeld
• Dunstable
• Yarn Market, Dunster

E

• Edinburgh
• Easingwold<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• East Hagbourne
• Elstow<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Emley, West Yorkshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Enfield Town<ref>Template:NHLE Myddleton House gardens are normally open to the public in daytime.</ref>
• Epworth<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Eynsham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

F

• Frome

G

• Garstang<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Giggleswick<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Glasgow
• Glastonbury<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Glossop
• Grampound with Creed<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Grantham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE This appears to be two listing numbers for a single market cross</ref>
• Guisborough<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

H

• Harringworth<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Helmsley<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Helpston<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Henley-in-Arden<ref>Template:NHLE Stump. Remains of head now in Guildhall, according to listing</ref>
• Hereford
• Higham Ferrers<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Highburton
• Hillmorton<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Hooton Pagnell<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Howden<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Holsworthy<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Holt
• Huddersfield<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Hunmanby<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

I

• Ilchester<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Irthlingborough<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

K

• Keighley
• King Sterndale<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• King's Cliffe<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Kirkby in Ashfield
• Kirkby Lonsdale (x2)<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Kirkby Malzeard<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Kirkbymoorside<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Knaresborough<ref>Template:NHLE Steps only remaining</ref>

L

• Lambourn<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Launceston, Cornwall<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Lavenham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Leek<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Leicester
• Leigh, Greater Manchester<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Leighton–Linslade<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Leighton Buzzard<ref>Template:NHLE The Leighton-Linslade and Leighton Buzzard listings appear to refer to the same monument</ref>
• Lerwick
• Lower Holker<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Lund, East Riding of Yorkshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Lydney<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Lyneham, Wiltshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

M

• Maiden Newton
• Maltby, South Yorkshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Mark, Somerset<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Market Deeping
• Malmesbury<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Mansfield<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Mansfield Woodhouse<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Martock<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Masham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Maybole
• Melbourne, Derbyshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Metheringham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Middleham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Middleton-in-Teesdale<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Mildenhall<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Milnthorpe<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Minchinhampton
• Minehead<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Monk Bretton<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Mountsorrel<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

N

• Newcastle-under-Lyme<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Newport, Wales
• Newport, Shropshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Newsham, Richmondshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Newton Abbot<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• North Frodingham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• North Kyme<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• North Turton<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• North Tawton<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• North Walsham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• New Buckenham
• Northallerton
• Nunney<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

O

• Oakenshaw
• Oakham Market Cross<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Old Cross, Old Glossop<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Overthorpe, West Yorkshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

P

• Pembroke<ref>Pembroke preaching and market crosses, Wales</ref>
• Penryn, Cornwall<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Pontefract<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Poulton-le-Fylde<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

Q

• Quainton<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

R

• Reach, Cambridgeshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Repton<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Ripley, North Yorkshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Ripon
• Rochdale<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Rockingham, Northamptonshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Rothesay
• Rutherglen<ref>Main Street Rutherglen, Mercat Cross | LB33558, Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 25 September 2022.</ref>

S

• Saffron Walden
• Salisbury
• Sedgemoor<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Selby<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Shap
• Shepton Mallet<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Somerton<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE This single market cross has two listings</ref>
• Spilsby<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• St Albans
• Stalbridge<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Stamfordham
• Standish, Greater Manchester<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Stanhope, County Durham (x2)<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Steeple Ashton<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Stockton-on-Tees<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Stow-on-the-Wold<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Stretham
• Sturminster Newton<ref>Template:NHLE Base with steps and pedestal</ref>
• Swaffham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Swineshead, Lincolnshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Swinton (Berwickshire)

T

• Tattershall<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Thornton-le-Dale<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Tickhill<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

U

• Uttoxeter<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

W

• Wainfleet All Saints<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Wantage<ref>Template:NHLE As of 2020 this monument was still inside the Vale and Downland Museum, Wantage.</ref>
• Warkworth, Northumberland<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Wedmore<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Wells<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• West Bedlington<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• West Burton
• West Malling, Kent
• Weston, Runcorn<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Whittlesey<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Wigtown (x2)
• Williton (x2)<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:NHLEWilliton has (or had) two market crosses and a churchyard cross.</ref>
• Winchester
• Witney
• Woodhouse, South Yorkshire<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
• Wymondham<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

• 
  Aberdeen
• 
  Bedale
• 
  Carlisle
• 
  Chichester
• 
  Highburton
• 
  Maybole
• 
  Salisbury
• 
  Shepton Mallet
• 
  Wymondham

See also

• Perron
• Tottenham High Cross
• Eleanor cross
• Bristol High Cross - now moved
• Glasgow Cross