The Market Cross
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The Market Cross by Jonathan Kington as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
The Market Cross
Image: © Jonathan Kington Taken: 1 Feb 2011
The Grade II listed ( http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-461659-market-cross-leek ) cross is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument and stands at the bottom of the Market Place. The market cross was originally erected in 1214 by one of the abbots of Dieulacres Abbey of Leek as a badge of the town's dependence upon the Abbey, as Lords of the Manor the Abbots regularly collected tolls beside the Market Cross. The cross survived the dissolution of the monasteries, and old Town Hall records dating from the seventeenth century indicate that those convicted of extortion were forced to kneel in front of it on market days as a form of penance. In the 19th century the cross was moved to the cemetery before being returned to its rightful place later.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
53.10605
Longitude
-2.025472