The Borough Cross is an ancient and somewhat battered monument - it may date from around 1208, when Bishop Peter des Roches founded The Borough. In 1642 the cross was damaged by Cromwell’s troops. In 1797 it was repaired by the village Burgesses, who recorded the event and their names on the first step:
VETUSTATE COLLAPSUM Ed BOUVERIE COM. FIL ET.GUL. SCOTT. Ed BURGENS ADPARL. FUNDITUS FIRMARI F AD 1797.
During the 18th century a weather vane was placed at the top of the cross and at the time of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 it was repaired again at the expense of Lady Radnor. There was also once a street light attached to the cross, which illuminated the area, which was once known as The Square and used as a market place.
The cross was damaged in 1940, when a German land mine exploded in the nearby water meadows. To celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 a further inscription was added. At the same time, work was done to replace the upper cross section, which had been found buried in the garden of nearby Fairfield House. It is possible that this is the original cross, knocked off during the time of the Commonwealth.
The cross has always been a gathering point in the village. When Parliamentary elections were held in the village, Downton having had the right since the 14th century to send two Members to Parliament, the announcements of the successful candidates were proclaimed here. Bobby Shaftoe, immortalised in the song “Bobby Shaftoe went to sea, silver buckles at his knee” was a real person, and represented Downton as MP from 1779 to 1790.
