| Parish/District | Ancaster/South Kesteven |
| Location | on east side of Ermine Street (now B6403) in the town centre |
| Category | Market cross |
| National Grid Ref | SK 9840 4384 |
| Designation | Scheduled / Listed (II) |
| Stone type | unknown |
| Refs | Surveyed by AP on 29 Nov 1993 |
| Visits | AP: 29 Nov 1993 | DS/HH: 10 March 2006 |
The remains of the market (?) cross stand by the side of Ermine Street in the centre of Ancaster, probably at or close to its original location. A much eroded socket-stone protrudes through the modern tarmac, holding a repaired fragment of shaft broken into three pieces. The most recent damage occurred in 1999 when a vehicle collided with the cross breaking the upper shaft portion. Following that incident the monument was enclosed within four sturdy stone pillars which have recently been replaced with timber posts. It is interesting to note that in 1913, Davies commented ‘We should like to see this cross better protected’ (Davies, 1913 p.132).
The socket-stone is a very worn limestone slab of roughly rectangular section. Its corners are moulded and chamfered, rising to a top of irregular octagonal section. The best preserved corner is on the north west, which is carved to form a simple bulb shape, the other three corners are more worn and damaged and it is unclear whether they were once more elaborately carved. The socket is square and contains the shaft which tapers upwards in a rounded form, probably once octagonal. About 1.1m (check) of the repaired shaft survives. On the eastern face of the lower fragment of shaft is a broad vertical groove which does not now align with a similar groove on the upper shaft probably due to misalignment during repairs.
Ancaster’s cross is recorded as a market cross as the town was granted a market charter in 1203 and its position at the side of the wide main street suggests it served as a market cross … which is what it is called by Ancastrians.
