| Parish/District | Boston/Boston District |
| Location | Boston Market Place Skirbeck, St Nicholas church |
| Category | Market cross(es) Lost crosses Churchyard cross (Skirbeck) Lost cross |
| National Grid Ref | c. TF 3270 4340 (St Anne’s cross) c. TF 32779 44114 (Market cross) c. TF 3382 4309 (Skirbeck cross) |
| Designation | None |
| Stone type | N/A |
| Refs | Wright, N. R., 2007, Boston: a Pictorial History, pic. 30 D S Davies, 1915, Lincs N & Q, vol 13 Lincs HER: MLI12704 |
| Visits | – |
There is a churchyard cross reported at St Nicholas church, Skirbeck, Boston, by Davies in 1915, but no trace of it could be found in 1965 (not visited by DS/HH)
No standing crosses survive in the town of Boston but there are several reports and some illustrations of market crosses that were once in the town:
Lincs HER has the following reference for St Anne’s Cross: St Anne’s Cross stood at the entrance to St Anne’s Lane, and is mentioned frequently between 1564 and 1712. In 1729 the cross was removed by the corporation from a triangular piece of ground which was then paved. No remains of the cross exist.
Boston Market Cross: This Cross stood in the middle of the Market Place, opposite Dolphin Lane, until taken down in 1730. The Butter Cross Assembly Rooms were then built on the site. Another Market Cross in South Square was referred to in 1564 and 1657 and the stalls where joiners, coopers, basket-makers and others sold wooden wares were around the so-called White Cross.(from Boston A Pictorial History by Neil Wright – picture 30)
D. S. Davis, in Lincs N & Q vol XIII (N0. 5 Jan 1915) States the following:
Boston: Market Cross—Corn Cross—Meal Cross – With regard to these the following references are of interest. Thompson’s “History of Boston”, page 223. “The Market Cross is mentioned in 1639, 1645, and 1654, but there is no account of its erection. The Corporation appropriated £630 for taking down the Old Cross and building a new one to be used as a market for the sale of butter, cheese, etc. The . room above was the Assembly Room and the place for transacting public business and holding public meetings of various descriptions. It was completed in 1730 and taken down in 1822.” The engraving of the cross shows ten steps, square, of more modern construction, on these appear two steps of much bigger stones in depth, and more like the original, then the base and a long shaft with a square capital surmounted by a cross. By the side of the cross stands a square building with a large window facing us in the picture, evidently standing on lower ground than the foundation of the cross.
Allen’s “ History of Lincolnshire”, p. 260. “The Corn Cross was situated in very nearly the north-eastern corner of the Market Place, this part of the town appears to have been the corn market at a very early period, for it said that in 1565 the Corn Cross was built upon the Common Corn-hill, on the east side of the water, by the gift of William Kyd, an Alderman of the Corporation. The Cross was taken down in 1790”. Also on page 261. “An ancient octagonal shaft, surmounted with a cross, formerly adorned the Market Place, this was destroyed and in 1732 a Market House with an open collonade was erected at the expense of the Corporation. This again was taken down about 1807.
Mr. Stukeley’s description of the town of Boston states that “ in the Market Place in my memory, was an old and large cross, with a vault underneath, steps all around it and at the top a stone pyramid of thirty feet high, but at this time quite destroyed.”
It is stated that near the opening of the present bridge into High Street formerly stood an open shed-like building called the Meal Cross, where millers sold flour, etc. And there was an old bridge over the drain, named Maudfoster Drain, called Peter’s Cross Bridge.
