| Parish/District | Marton/West Lindsey |
| Location | Now on the north side of Marton church, restored as a war memorial |
| Category | Churchyard cross (?) (moved – now war memorial) |
| National Grid Ref | SK 83980 81779 |
| Designation | None |
| Stone Type | Limestone |
| Refs | AP Survey 22 Jan 1998; Davies, D S, 1913, Lincs N & Q, Vol XII No.5, p.167; Credland, M., 2014. The First World War Memorials of Lincolnshire. p.134. Rawnsley, W F, 1914, Highways and Byways in Lincolnshire, p. 139 |
| Visits | AP 22 Jan 1998 | DS/HH: 4 June 2008 |
There are several Anglo-Saxon carved stones, including part of a cross shaft, built into the walls of St Margaret’s church. These are described in the Lincolnshire Corpus (HERE)
Davies, writing in 1915, describes a cross base in Marton churchyard. He notes: ‘On the south side of the church stands a cross consisting of two steps, base, and an unusually long shaft’. He gives measurements for all the surviving elements of the cross. No cross is shown in Marton churchyard on early O.S. maps, but Monson’s Church notes of 1835 (p.261) records a cross shaft, and there is a Nattes drawing of Marton in 1793, showing the cross.
The cross was taken down in February 1921 and restored to form a war memorial which was erected on the north side of Marton church. It was unveiled at a ceremony on 31 July 1921.
The war memorial has the addition of a step to the base (i.e. it now has three steps) and a restored knop and cross head. Comparison of Davies’s dimensions with Alison’s survey confirm that it is the same cross.
In various sources there is the suggestion that this is Marton’s market cross relocated into the churchyard. Newspaper reports of the war memorial, and Rawnsley writing in 1914 (Highways and Byways in Lincolnshire, p.139), make this allusion, but no-one gives any sources for the statement.
There is no doubt that Marton was an important trading place. It was a Roman Trent river crossing and a small port and it is thought that it was also a typical site for a medieval beach market. The town has 13th century grants for three annual fairs and almost certainly had a busy market. That said, no real evidence to link Marton’s cross to a market cross can be traced.
