Witney Butter Cross, Oxon, the town whence blankets come, has a
central pillar which stands on three steps, the superstructure being
supported on thirteen circular pillars. An inscription on the lantern
above records the following:--

GULIEIMUS BLAKE
Armiger de Coggs
1683
Restored 1860
1889
1894

It has a steep roof, gabled and stone-slated, which is not improved
by the pseudo-Gothic barge-boards, added during the restorations.

Many historical events of great importance have taken place at these
market crosses which have been so hardly used. Kings were always
proclaimed here at their accession, and would-be kings have also
shared that honour. Thus at Lancaster in 1715 the Pretender was
proclaimed king as James III, and, as we have stated, the Duke of
Monmouth was proclaimed king at Taunton and Bridgwater. Charles II
received that honour at Lancaster market cross in 1651, nine years
before he ruled. Banns of marriage were published here in Cromwell's
time, and these crosses have witnessed all the cruel punishments which
were inflicted on delinquents in the "good old days." The last step of
the cross was often well worn, as it was the seat of the culprits who
sat in the stocks. Stocks, whipping-posts, and pillories, of which we
shall have much to say, always stood nigh the cross, and as late as
1822 a poor wretch was tied to a cart-wheel at the Colne Cross,
Lancashire, and whipped.

Sometimes the cross is only a cross in name, and an obelisk has
supplanted the Christian symbol. The change is deemed to be
attributable to the ideas of some of the Reformers who desired to
assert the supremacy of the Crown over the Church. Hence they placed
an orb on the top of the obelisk surmounted by a small, plain Latin
cross, and later on a large crown took the place of the orb and cross.
At Grantham the Earl of Dysart erected an obelisk which has an
inscription stating that it occupies the site of the Grantham Eleanor
cross. This is a strange error, as this cross stood on an entirely
different site on St. Peter's Hill and was destroyed by Cromwell's
troopers. The obelisk replaced the old market cross, which was
regarded with much affection and reverence by the inhabitants, who in
1779, when it was taken down by the lord of the manor, immediately
obtained a mandamus for its restoration. The Mayor and Corporation
still proclaim the Lent Fair in quaint and archaic language at this