Cross (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – SD 6573 9212
Archaeology & History
More than 150 years ago outside St. Andrew’s Church in Sedbergh, A.E. Platt wrote (1876) that,
“there was a cross standing in the Market Place adjoining the churchyard on the north, but the last remains of it, and the stone steps it stood on, were taken away some years since by private persons, and may now be seen used as gateposts to a farmyard, some ten miles from their original position.”
Intriguing stuff! Does anyone know which farmyard might still possess these old relics? When the legendary Harry Speight (1892: 443) ventured by here fifteen years later he knew little about their new location, but simply echoed what Platt had previously written. It would be good to know what has become of them…
References:
- Platt, A.E., The History of the Parish and Grammar School of Sedbergh, Yorkshire, Atkinson & Pollitt: Kendal 1876.
- Speight, Harry, The Craven and Northwest District Highlands, Elliot Stock: London 1892.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian
The top part of the Market Cross (the sphere and plinth) now rests in the garden at Brigflatts Quaker Meeting House a mile south of Sedbergh. In 1854 it was brought to Brigflatts from the market site by the library near St Andrew’s church because it was adding to traffic congestion. The reason why it was given to Brigflatts was to commemorate an incident in the town when a travelling Quaker preacher visiting Sedbergh had spoken near it and attracted a huge crowd. He was set upon by ruffians. The cross broke and fell into the crowd but miraculously no-one was injured.