The Market Cross in

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

, England, is a

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 ...

dating from the 16th or 17th century. Market crosses, also termed butter crosses, may derive from the

high crosses A high cross or standing cross ( ga, cros ard / ardchros, gd, crois àrd / àrd-chrois, cy, croes uchel / croes eglwysig) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval traditi ...

or free-standing stones of the

Early Mediaeval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

period. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

they were often used as gathering points in the centres of communities, generally as venues for regular

markets Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: * Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand * Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, a ...

. Beneath the cross is a set of

stocks Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...

. Both are Grade I listed structures and the group forms a

Scheduled 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 ...

History and description

Market crosses can be found in the centres of many British towns and cities. Although their origins are unclear, they are generally believed to derive from the

High crosses A high cross or standing cross ( ga, cros ard / ardchros, gd, crois àrd / àrd-chrois, cy, croes uchel / croes eglwysig) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval traditi ...

or free-standing stones of the

period. In the

they frequently became the

focal point Focal point may refer to: * Focus (optics) * Focus (geometry) * Conjugate points, also called focal points * Focal point (game theory) * Unicom Focal Point, a portfolio management software tool * Focal point review, a human resources process for ...

for

marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

s, where communities gathered to

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

suggests that the presence of a cross in a marketplace may have served to “validate transactions”. James Masschaele, in his study, ''The Public Space of the Marketplace in Medieval England'', notes that marketplaces also served an important social function as a location for the “retailing of news and gossip”. Their religious associations led to many crosses being damaged or destroyed during the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

and in the aftermath of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. The Oakham Market Cross dates from the 16th or 17th centuries. in diameter, a central stone shaft and eight encircling timber posts support a tiled roof. The

stand immediately adjacent to the central shaft. They are unusual in that they have five openings, rather than the more common four or six. The cross and the stocks are both Grade I listed structures. The group forms a

Notes

References

Sources

* * * {{cite book , last1=Pevsner, first1=Nikolaus , last2=Williamson, first2=Elizabeth , authorlink1=Nikolaus Pevsner , title=Leicestershire and Rutland , url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/leicestershire-and-rutland/oclc/49298894?referer=br&ht=edition , series=Buildings of England , year=2003 , location=New Haven, US and London , publisher=

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, isbn=9780300096187 Grade I listed buildings in Rutland Scheduled monuments in Rutland Oakham Rutland Buildings and structures in Rutland Market crosses in England