| Parish/District | Grimsby/North East Lincs |
| Location | c. 10m south of St James’s church, Grimsby |
| Category | Market cross (Now Churchyard cross) |
| National Grid Ref | TA 26652 09143 |
| Designation | Listed II |
| Stone type | Limestone |
| Refs | Davies, D. S., 1915, Lincs N & Q, Vol XIII No.5 p.149; N E Lincs HER |
| Visits | DS/HH 7 Sept 2009 |
The cross is presently situated in the churchyard, c.10m south of the south transept entrance to St James’s church. It is said (in the HER) to have been moved from the market place in 1847 – As the old market place is only a couple of hundred metres to the east, that seems highly probable, although the HER comments that ‘previously the stump and pedestal were on the North side of the church, while part of the stem was found elsewhere. The socket may predate the rest of the cross’. Gillett (p. 104) comments that the market cross was partly made of wood.
Archdeacon Bonney visited Grimsby church on 2 August 1846 and, amongst his other observations, noted (p.45) ‘There is an interesting specimen of an Early English cross on the S. side of the churchyard.’ It seems to have been placed on the south side of the chancel, for this is where it is shown on the 1888 O.S 25″ map. It appears to have been moved to its current position quite recently.
The listing description states: Square-section plinth with arcading of trefoiled arches with pierced spandrels, carrying weathered octagonal cross-base with square-section cross-shaft of four engaged columns made of four irregularly sized sections. Topped by block of stone carved with plain capitals supporting square cap, possibly a later addition, topped by a modern lead cap.
We thought the shaft ‘quadripartite’ with bumps (possibly fleurons) in the channels between the columns. All very ‘knocked about and patched up’. The octagonal base has lead plugs in four of its faces. The base is 0.73m square and the shaft is 0.35m square. The socket is lead-lined. We did not measure the height of the shaft but the HER says it is 3.1m high. – The top has a repair and is now capped in lead for protection. The best description is in Vallance (1920) who also presents an engraving of the restored cross by Buckler – about 100 years later than the Espin drawing (see below).
An engraving of Grimsby cross restored (left) by Buckler c.1920 – and pre-restoration c.1820 by Espin (below)
