Cheddar Market Cross in the village of

Cheddar Cheddar most often refers to either: *Cheddar cheese *Cheddar, Somerset, the village after which Cheddar cheese is named Cheddar may also refer to: Places * Cheddar, Ontario, Canada * Cheddar Yeo, a river which flows through Cheddar Gorge and t ...

within the English county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England dates from the 15th century. It is a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, and Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The stone cross, used to mark the village's

market square The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a Town square, square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world.pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

surrounded by a hexagonal shelter. It has been restored and rebuilt several times, including twice since 2000 when it has been damaged in traffic accidents.

History

The

market cross A market cross, or in Scots, a mercat cross, is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. History Market crosse ...

in Bath Street dates from the 15th century. In the 16th or 17th century it was enclosed with a hexagonal arch structure. It was rebuilt by Thomas, Marquis of Bath in the 18th century. The shelter was rebuilt and the rafters replaced in 1834. This was around the time of the market cross in nearby

Axbridge Axbridge is a small town in Somerset, England, in the Sedgemoor district on the River Axe, near the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. The town's population according to the 2011 census was 2,057. History ''Axanbrycg'' is suggested as the sou ...

being demolished and some of the material from that cross may have been used in Cheddar. The cross head was added at some time after 1877. In January 2000, the cross was seriously damaged in a traffic accident. By 2002, the cross had been rebuilt and the area around it was redesigned to protect and enhance its appearance. The cross was badly damaged again in March 2012, when a taxi crashed into it late at night demolishing two sides. Repair work using as much of the original stone as possible, which included the addition of wooden-clad steel posts to protect against future crashes, was completed in November 2012 at a cost of £60,000.

Architecture

It has a central octagonal pier, a socket raised on three steps, a hexagonal shelter with six arched four-centred openings, shallow two-stage buttresses at each angle, and an embattled parapet. The shaft is crowned by an

abacus The abacus (''plural'' abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool which has been used since ancient times. It was used in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the Hin ...

with figures in niches, probably from the late 19th century, although the cross is now missing.

References

{{reflist Scheduled monuments in Sedgemoor Grade II* listed buildings in Sedgemoor Market crosses in England Cheddar, Somerset