| Parish/District | Helpringham/North Kesteven |
| Location | on Helpringham village green, east of the parish church |
| Category | Village cross (converted to war memorial) |
| National Grid Ref | TF 13977 40758 |
| Designation | Scheduled / Listed II |
| Stone type | Limestone |
| Refs | AP Survey 3 Dec 1993; Davies, D S, 1913, Lincs N & Q, Vol XII No.5, p.142 |
| Visits | AP: 3 Dec 1993 | DS/HH: Not visited |
Helpringham had a market charter granted in 1259 and with it, an impressive market cross with five steps on the village green. This was recorded by Davies in 1913 who notes that it: ‘is in need of attention. It consists of five steps and base, but the shaft has disappeared. The stones of the steps are held together by clamps of iron.’ In 1921, it was converted to a war memorial which was unveiled on 15 May 1921.
The steps are all roughly square in plan and constructed of limestone blocks. They occupy an area approximately 3.1m square and are surrounded on all sides by an area of concrete paving with iron railings. The fifth (top) step has gone – replaced by the war memorial cross base but the lower four are medieval in date with 19th- and 20th- century repairs represented by iron clamps.
On the uppermost step rests the 1921 socket-stone, composed of two limestone slabs with moulded and chamfered edges; the lower is inscribed as a memorial to soldiers of the parish who were killed in World War I. Set into the middle of the socket-stone is the modern shaft, of rectangular section and 1.22m in height, topped by a wheel-headed cross. The full height of the cross is approximately 3m.
The 1889 OS map (left)shows the unrestored cross on Helpringham Green next to the smithy – the photograph (below – looking north) shows the cross base and steps with the smithy on the right
