The Market Cross

Malmesbury - History

In about 1490, the Market Cross was built in Malmesbury, and remains one of the town’s most distinguishable features to this day. It was built as a place of shelter and a meeting place for special occasions, and was commissioned as a joint venture between the Abbot and the town Burgesses (townspeople or ‘people of the borough’). As such, it provides an effective representation of the situation in Malmesbury when it was built, a time when both the Church and the town’s traders shared control.

The Market Cross fulfils much the same function now that it did centuries ago, although general degradation and the impact of motor vehicles have meant that it has needed multiple restorations.

Sources:-

Bowen, John. (Edited By Allnatt, Graham), A Story of Malmesbury (Hackman Print, Rhondda: 2000).

Hodge, Dr. Bernulf., A History of Malmesbury (5^th Edition; The Friends of Malmesbury Abbey, Minety: 1990).

Image: http://www.thecotswoldsguide.com/Malmesbury/