At Ipswich, a preaching cross, erected in 1510 by Edmund Daundy, Bailiff of the town, and said to be a near relative of Cardinal Wolsey, is believed to have occupied the same spot on the Cornhill, where subsequently, in 1628, the market cross was built (Figs. [169-172]). The latter was projected, at least, as early as 1610, when Benjamin Osborne promised £50, which, by will dated June 1619, he bequeathed toward the building. But it was not until 1628 that the Corporation managed to obtain any payment from his executors, and then the sum available from his estate was £6 short of the proper amount. The figures in the inscription, recording the benefaction upon a shield in one of the spandrels, were thereupon altered from £50 to £44 (Fig. [172]). The structure, 28 ft. in diameter, comprised eight stone columns, supporting elliptical arches of wood, with an embattled parapet above a cornice, elaborately carved with scrollwork and grotesques. Five masks from the old wood carving, together with the shield inscribed as above mentioned, are yet preserved in the Ipswich Museum. The roof, an ogee-shaped cupola, covered with lead, was framed into a centre post, carried on cross-beams just above the level of the eaves. The upper end of the post ran up through the middle of the roof in the form of a square terminal of four stages, the lowest part being carved with a group of figures supporting a gilt ball, like an orb, with a cross on the top. On the occasion of the Proclamation of King Charles II., on 10th May 1660, "the cross was ordered to be beautified—painted or rather emblazoned" with the arms of local celebrities. The arms included those of Ipswich borough and of the families of Daundy, Bloss, Long, and Sparrowe, as well as two tradesmen's marks, C. A., and B. K. M. The carved faces in the museum yet retain their flesh tints. In April 1694 the Corporation ordered that a new statue of Justice should be erected upon the summit of the cross. In 1723 the Corporation voted thanks to Mr Francis Nugent (who represented Ipswich in three Parliaments) for his present of a statue of Justice, which was brought from his seat at Dallinghoe. This, an allegorical figure, holding the scales, is of stone, painted brown, and also is preserved in Ipswich Museum. A sketch and plan by Sir James Thornhill (Fig. [169]), in May 1711, shows that the cross at that time stood surrounded by a balustrade. The cross was pulled down bodily at the beginning of January 1812, by order of a Great Court previously held. An aquatint, from a contemporary drawing by George Frost, was published in the same year (Fig. [171]).
The Market Cross at Mildenhall, Suffolk (Fig. [13]), with its timber posts and lead-covered roof, dates from the fifteenth century.
187. BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
MARKET CROSS
188. SWAFFHAM, NORFOLK
MARKET CROSS
189. WOODSTOCK, OXFORDSHIRE