In the north the hardy
Yorkshiremen and Lancastrians recked not for rain and storms, and few
covered-in crosses can be found. You will find some beautiful
specimens of these at Malmesbury, Chichester, Somerton, Shepton
Mallet, Cheddar, Axbridge, Nether Stowey, Dunster, South Petherton,
Banwell, and other places.
Salisbury market cross, of which we give an illustration, is
remarkable for its fine and elaborate Gothic architectural features,
its numerous niches and foliated pinnacles. At one time a sun-dial and
ball crowned the structure, but these have been replaced by a cross.
It is usually called the Poultry Cross. Near it and in other parts of
the city are quaint overhanging houses. Though the Guildhall has
vanished, destroyed in the eighteenth century, the Joiners' Hall, the
Tailors' Hall, the meeting-places of the old guilds, the Hall of John
Halle, and the Old George are still standing with some of their
features modified, but not sufficiently altered to deprive them of
interest.
[Illustration: The Market Cross, Salisbury, Wilts. Oct. 1908]
Sometimes you will find above a cross an overhead chamber, which was
used for the storing of market appurtenances. The reeve of the lord of
the manor, or if the town was owned by a monastery, or the market and
fair had been granted to a religious house, the abbot's official sat
in this covered place to receive dues from the merchants or
stall-holders.
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