Ancient Crosses

Much Woolton Cross

Woolton Cross was put up at the northern end of the original village in around 1350. A second cross, Hunt’s Cross, was erected at the southern end of the township, the pedestal of which still stands, topped with a concrete bollard.

Woolton Cross was restored in 1913 by Arthur Mather in celebration of Woolton becoming part of Liverpool (or perhaps to mourn its passing as a separate place!).

From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor:

The ancient village of Much Woolton is two miles and a half inland from the bank of the Mersey and six and a half miles in a south-easterly direction from Walton-on-the-Hill. The Knights of S. John of Jerusalem had a grange here. A wake was held on Woolton Green on Midsummer Day. Mr. Cox (Transactions, Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, for 1895) describes the remains of the market cross as consisting of a short pyramidal chamfered shaft, socketted into an old base, which was carried on two steps. The site was the centre of the old village, where the district council offices now stand. The structure, I understand, was taken down about the year 1900, and given to Mr. Reynolds, who placed it in his garden.

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