Details

The monument includes the village cross, a standing stone cross in a cobbled
area at the western end of Main Street. It is of stepped form and is
principally medieval in date with late-19th century repairs. The monument is
Listed Grade II and includes a base, consisting of three steps and a socket
stone, and a shaft.
The steps are roughly square in plan and are constructed of ashlar blocks.
Documentary references indicate that they were restored in the late-19th
century. On the uppermost step stands the cube-like undecorated socket stone,
0.82m square and 0.44m high. Set into the socket stone is the stone shaft
which has a tapering, square section and angle roll mouldings. These mouldings
define long thin panels on each of the four faces of the shaft which are
decorated with a pattern of fleurons (flowerlike ornaments). The top of the
shaft is now flat and it is missing its cross-head, but the shaft is thought
to stand to its original height of 2.6m.
The cross is traditionally known as a market and preaching cross and is
believed have been erected in the mid-14th century about 7m to the west of its
present location, in the centre of the road, but was moved in 1981.
The cobbled and tarmac surfaces which surround the cross and the surface of
the modern road are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath
these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 1 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

A standing cross is a free standing upright structure, usually of stone,
mostly erected during the medieval period (mid 10th to mid 16th centuries AD).
Standing crosses served a variety of functions. In churchyards they served as
stations for outdoor processions, particularly in the observance of Palm
Sunday. Elsewhere, standing crosses were used within settlements as places for
preaching, public proclamation and penance, as well as defining rights of
sanctuary. Standing crosses were also employed to mark boundaries between
parishes, property, or settlements. A few crosses were erected to commemorate
battles. Some crosses were linked to particular saints, whose support and
protection their presence would have helped to invoke. Crosses in market
places may have helped to validate transactions. After the Reformation, some
crosses continued in use as foci for municipal or borough ceremonies, for
example as places for official proclamations and announcements; some were the
scenes of games or recreational activity.
Standing crosses were distributed throughout England and are thought to have
numbered in excess of 12,000. However, their survival since the Reformation
has been variable, being much affected by local conditions, attitudes and
religious sentiment. In particular, many cross-heads were destroyed by
iconoclasts during the 16th and 17th centuries. Less than 2,000 medieval
standing crosses, with or without cross-heads, are now thought to exist. The
oldest and most basic form of standing cross is the monolith, a stone shaft
often set directly in the ground without a base. The most common form is the
stepped cross, in which the shaft is set in a socket stone and raised upon a
flight of steps; this type of cross remained current from the 11th to 12th
centuries until after the Reformation. Where the cross-head survives it may
take a variety of forms, from a lantern-like structure to a crucifix; the more
elaborate examples date from the 15th century. Much less common than stepped
crosses are spire-shaped crosses, often composed of three or four receding
stages with elaborate architectural decoration and/or sculptured figures; the
most famous of these include the Eleanor crosses, erected by Edward I at the
stopping places of the funeral cortege of his wife, who died in 1290. Also
uncommon are the preaching crosses which were built in public places from the
13th century, typically in the cemeteries of religious communities and
cathedrals, market places and wide thoroughfares; they include a stepped base,
buttresses supporting a vaulted canopy, in turn carrying either a shaft and
head or a pinnacled spire. Standing crosses contribute significantly to our
understanding of medieval customs, both secular and religious, and to our
knowledge of medieval parishes and settlement patterns. All crosses which
survive as standing monuments, especially those which stand in or near their
original location, are considered worthy of protection.

Village cross at the western end of Main Street is a good example of a
medieval standing cross with a stepped base. The western end of Main Street
was the former marketplace, and the cross stands near to its original position
and retains the setting in which it was originally constructed. While most of
the cross survives from medieval times, its subsequent restoration illustrates
its continued function as a public monument and amenity.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Leicestershire Sites and Monuments Record, 61 NE.M, (1982)
NMR, SK 61 NE 5, (1969)

Source: Historic England