The Market Cross, Market Place, North Walsham, Norfolk.
Posted by: 
greysman
N 52° 49.284 E 001° 23.166
31U E 391248 N 5853623
The Market Cross was originally just that, a cross, but this one was started in 1550 and finished in 1555.
Waymark Code: WMC5XP
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/29/2011
Views: 4
The market cross at North Walsham was a cross which fixed the site of the weekly market, and the sellers' tolls for using the market was collected at a nearby tollhouse. As it grew the tollhouse also grew and a new 'market cross' was needed.
Thus in 1550 a new cross was started by Bishop Thirlby of Norwich during the reign of Edward VI but not completed until 1555. It, along with the market, was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1600 and Bishop Redman rebuilt it in 1602 to this unusual design. It is now both a National Monument and a Grade I listed building.
A one handed clock was acquired from Worstead Hall in 1787 and in 1855 the Market Cross' owners, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, formally presented it to the town and a minute hand was added to the clock the following year. A new chiming clock was bought in 1899 using funds from the North Walsham Steeplechase.
During the second world war it nearly came to grief again when a bomb exploded close by, but the only casualty was the weathervane which was blown off.
The cross has been restored several times, the latest being in 1984 when the old roof covering was replaced with the present lead and the clock restored into working order. A piece of ancient oak removed from the cross at this time was locally carved as a representation of the head of Christ and presented to the people of the twin town of Friesenried in Bavaria.
For more details of the cross and North Walsham see: North Walsham