Market cross at junction of High Street, Low Street and Haxey Lane

Reasons for Designation

A standing cross is a free standing upright structure, usually of stone, mostly erected during the medieval period (mid 10th to mid 16th centuries AD). Standing crosses served a variety of functions. In churchyards they served as stations for outdoor processions, particularly in the observance of Palm Sunday. Elsewhere, standing crosses were used within settlements as places for preaching, public proclamation and penance, as well as defining rights of sanctuary. Standing crosses were also employed to mark boundaries between parishes, property, or settlements. A few crosses were erected to commemorate battles. Some crosses were linked to particular saints, whose support and protection their presence would have helped to invoke. Crosses in market places may have helped to validate transactions. After the Reformation, some crosses continued in use as foci for municipal or borough ceremonies, for example as places for official proclamations and announcements; some were the scenes of games or recreational activity. Standing crosses were distributed throughout England and are thought to have numbered in excess of 12,000. However, their survival since the Reformation has been variable, being much affected by local conditions, attitudes and religious sentiment. In particular, many cross-heads were destroyed by iconoclasts during the 16th and 17th centuries. Less than 2,000 medieval standing crosses, with or without cross-heads, are now thought to exist. The oldest and most basic form of standing cross is the monolith, a stone shaft often set directly in the ground without a base. The most common form is the stepped cross, in which the shaft is set in a socket stone and raised upon a flight of steps; this type of cross remained current from the 11th to 12th centuries until after the Reformation. Where the cross-head survives it may take a variety of forms, from a lantern-like structure to a crucifix; the more elaborate examples date from the 15th century. Much less common than stepped crosses are spire-shaped crosses, often composed of three or four receding stages with elaborate architectural decoration and/or sculptured figures; the most famous of these include the Eleanor crosses, erected by Edward I at the stopping places of the funeral cortege of his wife, who died in 1290. Also uncommon are the preaching crosses which were built in public places from the 13th century, typically in the cemeteries of religious communities and cathedrals, market places and wide thoroughfares; they include a stepped base, buttresses supporting a vaulted canopy, in turn carrying either a shaft and head or a pinnacled spire. Standing crosses contribute significantly to our understanding of medieval customs, both secular and religious, and to our knowledge of medieval parishes and settlement patterns. All crosses which survive as standing monuments, especially those which stand in or near their original location, are considered worthy of protection.

The cross is thought to be in its original position and it survives in reasonable condition. It is one of three crosses in Haxey.

Details

The monument includes the base and part of the shaft of a medieval market cross located in the centre of the public highway at the east end of Haxey, at the junction of High Street, Low Street and Haxey Lane. The cross, which is listed Grade II, stood on a limestone platform 1.5m square and 0.3m high which itself stands on a plinth of modern brickwork. The base, also of limestone, measures 0.8m square and is 0.3m high. The surviving shaft section, which sits in the base, is 0.4m square and 0.45m high. It has a square-section base, the corners of which are cut away as it rises in height to give an octagonal drum shape at the top. A hollow socket in the top would have provided a secure setting for another section of shaft now lost. The shaft fragment is now secured to the base by iron fittings. The cross occupies its original position and is one of three crosses in Haxey. Traditionally the crosses were associated with the `Haxey Hood' game held each year on the sixth of January. The paved surface of the modern highways are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

26616

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Humberside SMR, Sites and Monuments Records Sheets, (1996)

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