Sutton St James (1) is a market cross – there is also a boundary cross, described at Sutton St James (2)

The Butter Cross (St Ives cross) at Sutton St James
Parish/DistrictSutton St James/South Holland
Locationon a small green at the road junction of Fisher Gate and Chapel Gate, on the western edge of the village of Sutton St James
CategoryMarket cross
National Grid RefTF 38906 18154
DesignationScheduled / Listed II
Stone TypeLimestone
RefsAP Survey 24 March 1994; Davies, D S, 1915, Lincs N & Q, Vol XIII No.6 p.218
VisitsAP: 24 March 1994 | DS/HH: 30 Dec 2005

St Ives cross (aka the Butter Cross) in Sutton St James is architecturally unusual and is mentioned and illustrated in Stukeley’s Itinerarium Curiosum (1724). It is a good example of a medieval standing cross with an octagonal stepped base but it is rare in having angle brackets; a very unusual feature for standing crosses.

Although Sutton St James is now a rural backwater it was an important market centre in medieval and early modern times and had market charters of 1252 and 1282 for Friday markets. Locally, St Ives cross is known as the Butter Cross and there seems little doubt that it was built as a market cross.

J C Nattes drew St Ives cross sometime around 1795 (see below) and his drawing is perhaps more accurate than Stukeley’s . . . Of note, are the crockets on the shaft and buttresses and the surviving height of the shaft.

The base of the cross is on four octagonal steps constructed of large slabs of worn limestone. The lowest step is surrounded by a layer of flagstones, also octagonal in plan, visible on the east, south and west sides to a depth of nearly 0.5m. On the north side the top of the lowest step is nearly level with the present ground surface.

The socket stone is set on the top step with mortar. It is a single limestone block c.0.93m square and 0.5m tall. The upper edge of the stone is chamfered.

The socket is central to the stone and holds a chamfered, octagonal shaft fragment which reaches a maximum height of 0.51m above the socket stone. Resting against the chamfers on three sides of the shaft are three crocketed stone brackets in the form of small flying buttresses. Those on the north east and south east are broken off below the top of the shaft fragment, while that on the north west stands to its original height of 0.64m.

In the upper surface of the socket stone on the south west side of the shaft is a small hole into which a fourth bracket was formerly fixed. The full height of the cross is nearly 2m.

Davies commented that the cross was in need of restoration and AP recorded that it appeared to have been reconstructed/reassembled – A newspaper report (Lincs Free Press) of 7 August 1962 records that the cross was removed  for a few days for repair and then reassembled.

William Stukeley’s drawing of Ivy cross in Sutton St James – it is not very accurate
Detail of St Ives cross from Nattes’s drawings of Sutton St James c.1795 (c) Lincs Archives
An early 20th century postcard of the windmill and butter cross – the poor condition of the steps is clear

Newspaper report of the reconstruction of Sutton St James Butter Cross – Lincolnshire Free Press, 7 August 1962

Sutton St James Butter Cross photographed in 2005
Detail of the Sutton socket stone and the decorated shaft brackets/buttressesthe one on the left is thought to be complete
Another postcard view (1930s?) of the Sutton Butter Cross
Sutton St James (1) The Butter Cross

2 thoughts on “Sutton St James (1) The Butter Cross

  • 8 February 2025 at 21:48
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    There is also a third cross in Sutton st James at a crossroads along Master Dyke, it is a listed structure and was considered to be a boundary marking cross.

    Reply
    • 8 February 2025 at 22:31
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      Hi Peter, thanks for the info – I think this is Manor Hill Cross – which is now in Tydd St Mary parish – although I think Revd Davies records it as Sutton St James – but the parish boundary may have changed since his day (1912) – have a look at Tydd St Mary (3) and let me know what you think

      Reply

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