A FORTNIGHT ago, we told how Ripon's market cross, at 82ft, was probably the tallest in the country.

Market crosses, which are usually just pillars of stone, symbolise the “sanctity of the bargain”, and most market towns have one in some form at their heart – Barnard Castle's is perhaps the most uncrosslike because it is the Butter Mart which doubles as a fancy roundabout.

READ MORE: WHY RIPON'S OBELISK IS MORE THAN JUST A MARKET CROSS

Exactly 150 years ago this autumn, Northallerton's market cross became one of the most migratory market crosses in the country.

King Henry I granted the Bishop of Durham permission to allow Northallerton to have a market on a Wednesday in 1127. Initially, this market, overlooked by a stone cross, was next to the church – presumably this is why the High Street is wide enough to park a couple of coaches here – but by the 16th Century, it had moved south and was where the town hall is today.

The Northern Echo: The shambles, the market cross and the tollbooth in Northallerton in about 1870, just before they were cleared out of the way for the town hall to be built in 1873

However, before the town hall was built, Northallerton had a shambles (or covered meat market) and a tollbooth, where all the fees relating to a market were collected, on this site.

In 1873, the town embarked upon a radical reshaping of its high street which saw the shambles and tollbooth demolished so they could be replaced by the current town hall, and the market cross was plucked up and taken to the home of local historian, solicitor and bailiff John Ingelby Jefferson, who lived in Standard House in the High Street. We are extremely grateful to Colin Narramore for sending us a picture of the cross residing in Mr Jefferson’s back garden.

The Northern Echo: Northallerton town cross before 1913 in the garden of Standard House, Northallerton. Picture courtesy of Colin NarramoreNorthallerton market cross in a back garden off the High Street. Pictures courtesy of Colin Narramore

We don't know whether people were cross about the disappearance of their historic cross, or whether they considered it too old-fashioned for the new-look town centre, but for some reason, 40 years later in 1913, it was moved from Standard House and planted back in the High Street, to the south of the new town hall.

The Northern Echo: Northallerton town cross being re-erected in 1913. Picture courtesy of Colin NarramoreThe market cross being replaced outside the town hall in 1913 aftyer being missing for 40 years

The Northern Echo: Northallerton town cross continued its movement southwards in 1987 to its current position. Picture courtesy of Colin NarramoreNorthallerton market cross on the move again, in 1987

In 1987 during a £350,000 revamp of the High Street, as another of Colin’s pictures show, the market cross continued its progress southwards when it was moved 100 yards to outside the Black Bull. This most migratory of market crosses looks to have remained on the same spot during the most recent repaving.

The Northern Echo: The market cross dressed up for Remembrance Sunday. It has resisted the temptation to move in the most recent relandscaping of the High Street

READ MORE: WILL THE WORK OF NORMAN CORNISH, COUNTY DURHAM'S FAVOURITE ARTIST, PASS THE TEST OF TIME?