Traditionally, the market cross was primarily a symbol of a village’s right to trade. Its structure and placement guaranteed its visibility to a wide number of market participants, suggesting that considerable importance was attached to its function as a symbol.
Williams, G., 2010, Early Markets and the market cross
It is intriguing to speculate on the origins of the market cross, for they have become one of the most enduring forms of standing cross in the country. Their sites and structures, if not always their imagery, have survived despite reformation and religious fundamentalism.
One can imagine that market places would be natural sites for standing crosses as part of the processional route in villages and towns. They are established places for trade, the exchange of news and gossip, public proclamations and official business. All of these activities are further validated by the presence of a sacred symbol or influence to remind all those present of their responsibilities to God. Added to this is the need for the market place itself to be marked out as ‘proper’ and safe place for trading to take place.
Somewhere in this process, the standing cross in the market place starts to become adapted to facilitate trade as well as validating it. Crosses set on steps present a useful platform for the display of market goods, and the bigger the steps, the more display options that are available. Market crosses, with their expansive stepped platforms, have become recognised as a distinct type of standing cross and it seems probable that market cross structures evolved as their role became established.
This evolution can be seen to develop to a point where market crosses transform into buildings which give some degree of protection to the traders. This can be seen at Cheddar, where a protective structure is built around a pre-existing market cross. But in due course, a whole new type of building structure comes into use. An open-sided building – often circular or polygonal – to serve as a focal point for a market place, but still with a cross at its apex. Typical examples can still be seen in many of the market towns in England.
By the eighteenth century, the need for divine validation at markets has diminished to some extent and yet the terms ‘market cross’ and particularly ‘butter-cross’ endure and market buildings that owe little to past traditions (and have no cross set upon them) are still named in this traditional way.
