The Sandbach Crosses, Cheshire
Two massive Saxon stone crosses dominate the cobbled market square of Sandbach in Cheshire - elaborately carved with animals and Biblical scenes.
The Sandbach crosses probably date from the 9th century and are among the finest surviving examples of Anglo-Saxon high crosses.
The carvings include the Nativity of Christ and the Crucifixion and were originally brightly painted and adorned with jewels and metalwork. They stood as powerful symbols of church authority, possibly linked to a lost Saxon church belonging to the powerful Bishops of Lichfield.
The crosses have always been a pair and were carved by the same hand.
The Sandbach Crosses are first mentioned in the market place in 1585 soon after the town was granted a charter for two fairs and a weekly market. It is likely that they had been moved there from some unknown place.
In the early 17th century they were torn down by Puritans opposed to religious imagery and the pieces were dispersed. The pieces were reassembled by the antiquary George Ormerod in 1816, using similar sandstone to replace the missing sections.
The crosses now enhance the old market square where weekly markets and a Christmas market continue to be held.
Image is by Bob Harvey, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org
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