Market cross, Stow-on-the-Wold

The market cross stands in the southern half of the Market Square in Stow-on-the-Wold, the square the hilltop town grew round. Its steps and socket stone are medieval, probably of the fourteenth century; the shaft and the carved lantern head on top were restored in 1878 and again in 1995. It is listed Grade II and is a scheduled monument.

History

Stow grew as a market town on the Fosse Way, and its square was laid out for the market. The cross is thought to have been put up by the Chesters, a wealthy Stow family who founded a chantry in the church and probably built its tower. Historic England considers its oldest parts fourteenth century; the Victoria County History calls it a fifteenth-century cross.

Headless, then a lamp post

By the early nineteenth century the cross had lost its head, and for a time it was used as a lamp standard. In 1878 it was restored in memory of Joseph Chamberlayne Chamberlayne, lord of the manor, and the inscription on the south side of the socket stone records his gift of £2,000 for a supply of pure water for the parish. The Victoria County History dates the gift to 1871, when a deep well was dug.

The panels of 1995

A second restoration, paid for by public subscription, followed in 1995, and a plaque on the north side of the socket stone records it. Richard Podd restored the four panels of the head, which show the Crucifixion, Edward the Confessor, the Civil War and the wool trade, so the cross now tells the town's story. It was scheduled as an ancient monument in 1996.

What to see

Walk round all four sides.

• The calvary of three steps, the bottom one 2.25m wide, and the weathered socket stone cut from one piece, its corners chamfered to an octagon: the medieval part
• The shaft, about 2m high, square at the foot and tapering to an octagon
• The four carved panels of the lantern head: the Crucifixion, Edward the Confessor, the Civil War (Stow saw the last battle of the first Civil War in 1646) and the wool trade
• The inscription of 1878 on the south side and the plaque of 1995 on the north

The tower of St Edward's Church rises on the west side of the square, behind the cross.

Visiting

The cross is in the open square, free and open at all times. The square is busiest on summer weekends and when Stow's horse fair comes in October; early morning is quietest.

Getting there

The cross is in the Market Square, in the middle of Stow. The Maugersbury Road car park (GL54 1HH, charged) is a few minutes' walk away. Pulhams bus 801 stops in Stow roughly hourly every day, between Moreton-in-Marsh station, Bourton-on-the-Water and Cheltenham.

On foot, the Stow-on-the-Wold and Maugersbury walk, 3.75 miles round and without stiles, starts at the cross.

Nearby

St Edward's Church, with its north door between two yews, is a few steps west. Round the square are the Kings Arms and the Old Stocks Inn, and off Digbeth Street the Old Bakery Tearoom and the Porch House. A mile west at Lower Swell are the war memorial, thought to be to a Lutyens design, and the Pineapple Spa. Other Cotswold crosses worth seeing are the village cross at Stanton and the great market cross at Malmesbury.