| Parish/District | Freiston/Borough of Boston |
| Location | In the NW corner of the churchyard of St James’s Church, Freiston. |
| Category | Churchyard cross (or a market cross?) |
| National Grid Ref | TF 37632 43792 |
| Designation | Scheduled / Listed II |
| Stone type | Limestone |
| Refs | A P Survey 7 Jan 1994; Davies, D. S., 1915, Lincs N & Q, Vol XIII, No.5 pp129-157 |
| Visits | AP: 7 Jan 1994 | DS/HH: not visited |
Freiston is an interesting case as the church here (St James) was originally a Benedictine Priory until dissolution in 1539. It is possible (but unlikely) that it served the local community as a church during its monastic phase, but after dissolution the nave of the monastic church was retained and converted into a parish church and the rest of the monastic structures were abandoned. The ‘churchyard’ cross is some distance from the church (c. 110m WNW) and an engraving from Thompson (1856) shows the cross not in a churchyard, but on open ground with a set of stocks adjacent. This is more the setting for a village cross on the green and it may be that the post-dissolution churchyard has extended to incorporate the village green. This would account for the cross’s distance from the church and might suggest we should categorise it as a village cross although, in addition, Freiston has a market charter (1263) so perhaps it was a market cross?
Thompson describes it thus: On an eminence near the entrance of the churchyard, are the pedestal and part of the shaft of an ancient cross. The adjacent part of the town is called Caythorpe Cross, most probably an allusion to these remains. In 1785, the public-house opposite to this hill was called Cross Hill House. The pub, now called the Bull and Dog, is still there.
Freiston cross comprises a cross base and a fragment of shaft. The base/socket stone is a single block c. 0.78m square with about 0.4m visible above the ground surface. The upper corners of the stone are moulded and chamfered. The shaft is set int the socket stone with lead and is rectangular at the base (0.36 x 0.26m) rising through moulded and chamfered corners to a tapering octagonal section with a height of about 0.42m.
