Description

The monument is Newbigging market cross and its stepped plinth, situated on the village green of Newbigging. The monument was first scheduled in 1963, but the scheduling description and map are inadequate to define the area scheduled. The present rescheduling rectifies this.

The cross stands approximately 3.5m high on the top of a square plinth of six steps. Its head and shaft are all of one stone and the shaft is seated in a socketed stone, secured to the top step with iron cramps. The shaft is rectangular in section with chamfered corners and the head has eight foliated projections, a medieval form of cross, bearing in its centre a Latin cross and with circular ornament in the spandrels. The north and south faces of the head of the cross were identically carved, although the north face has suffered a greater degree of erosion. The date 1693 and initials G L carved into the north face of the shaft commemorate its erection by the Lockhart family.

The area to be scheduled is a square 4m by 4m, to include the cross and the stepped plinth, and a small area around them, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a fine example of civic architecture of the late 17th century and has the potential to provide important information about medieval and post-medieval art and architecture. Newbigging market cross would have served as a focal point of the community, both as a symbol of the economic life of the village and as a reminder of the feudal superior, the Lockhart family, who erected it. The possibility that the cross itself may be a re-erected medieval cross, rather than a late 17th century copy of a medieval form, adds a further dimension of interest.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded by RCAHMS as NT04NW 4.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland