The Story of Langholm Mercat Cross

This article was written in 2011. It was intended to be a double page feature in the Eskdale and Liddesdale Advertiser. However the editor refused to print it because the story describes the sequence of events and criticises some of those involved.  Apparently council officials, councillors, members of the local establishment cannot be criticised. If I had known it would never be published I would have included  more of the research findings and gone into more details  instead of reducing it to its bare bones. 

In 1996-98 an area in the heart of Langholm’s Old Town, (Parliament Square and Jouker’s Close), was converted into a car park.   The project involved demolition of several buildings, and construction of a new road through the Library Gardens. This entailed restoring and moving the Sir Pulteney Malcolm statue and the Telford Arch in the Library Gardens.   The ancient Mercat Cross was not moved or restored, but its appearance was altered because its old stone plinth was buried under soil and turf.

Apparently nobody noticed the alteration despite the fact that this spoiled the architectural proportions of the Cross and debased its historical and social significance. The reduced height of the Cross and absence of its plinth has made the ‘interpretation’ of the Cross  more difficult.  Moreover, the underground plinth and lower section of the shaft became subject to erosion by groundwater.  Previously rainwater ran off the top of the plinth as intended by the mason who built the Cross hundreds of years ago. 

To explain the history and significance of the Cross in Langholm’s heritage research of the ancient  and recent history of Langholm and its Cross has been necessary. It has included  investigations under Freedom of Information legislation to find out exactly how it came to be so badly treated in 1996-98.  

 

The Mercat cross between 1967 and 1998

A public consultation was held for the car park project. The Scottish Civic Trust commented on the plans on view.  They objected to ‘’ the ‘Telford Arch’ and Mercat Cross being re-sited on grass. They need a solid pavement base or at least a gravel bed to fit their proper context.’’    John and Robert Hyslop’s book Langholm As It Was (1912) describes how the cross originally stood on the ‘’cobble-paved’’ surface of the Market Place.   This validates the Civic Trust  recommendation for a solid pavement for the Cross ‘’to fit its proper context’’.   The council planners seemed to agree by saying ‘’all of the concerns of the Scottish Civic Trust are valid and their advice regarding the detailed finishes of the scheme is welcome. Due account will be taken of contract method statement’’.

However whilst they DID provide cobbles at the Telford Arch they failed to do so for the Cross.  The concept of a ‘’solid base’’ for the Cross was ignored.  The entire plinth, plus part of the shaft was buried making nonsense of the Civic Trust concept. 

The planners were inconsistent and careless when they submerged   the Cross making its pillar  stick  up out of grass in 1998.  For over 13 years now the Cross has been in need of proper restoration for reasons of historical authenticity and to save it from further deterioration. 

Throughout 5 years of campaigning, and explaining the facts about what happened, officials continued to claim that the Cross’s repair and restoration is not their responsibility.  It became necessary to seek supporters in a campaign for restoration.  

John Hyslop had been the Honorary President of the Eskdale and Liddesdale Archaeological Society whose present-day constitution claims to ‘’protect and preserve the local heritage.’’  It is   disappointing that the Archaeological Society failed to do so.

The Burgh and the role of the Cross

the plinth buried in 1998

In every Scottish burgh the Mercat Cross had an important function and role.   The Burgh of Barony of Langholm was created by King James VI on 19^th September 1621 by his grant of a charter to Lord Nithsdale.  The Baron was granted various rights including: to have a public hall, erect a Market Cross, hold two free fairs with a right to the tolls, choose bailiffs and burgesses.  The erection of the Cross was necessary for any commercial transactions to take place in the new Burgh.  Before a fair or market could be held, a proclamation had to be made from the Cross.  The precise date when the Cross was erected is unknown and it might even have existed before 1621, (as suggested by Derek Bryce in his book ‘’Symbolism of the Celtic Cross’’ 1989).   In any case   the success of the ‘enterprise’ of the Burgh of Barony launched in 1621 is reflected in the fact that within a century the number of annual fairs had increased from two to at least six.  Without proclamations made from the podium of the Mercat Cross no such enterprise or economic development in Langholm would have taken place.

Many other burghs lament the loss of their ancient crosses.    Here in Langholm is the original, old Cross with a fascinating history.  According to the Hyslops it disappeared mysteriously around 1840 when the Malcolm Statue was erected in its place, but was discovered twenty five years later, buried under the Market Place.  It was then moved to the chief magistrate’s home, Greenbank.  After another 100 years, it was moved to the Library Gardens in 1967.  It is undoubtedly the oldest piece of built heritage in the town.   The Cross was a powerful symbol of the Burgh’s rights and privileges.  Architecturally it formed a focus and podium from which the Town Criers stood and made public announcements.  Significantly, when the Crier ‘’proclaimed the Langholm Fair’’ he stood on the Cross’ podium.  This is how the ‘Simmer’ Fair became intertwined with the Common 
Riding, whose annual celebration has a profound meaning for the townspeople.

Langholm Burgh of Barony and the Cross 

In 1996 the planners described the Mercat Cross as a ‘’remnant of the town cross’ but this was wrong. The original, ancient Cross was virtually intact as proved by the old photograph (daguerreotype) dating from circa 1840 (picture No 1424 at Langholm Archive website) All photographs, drawings or images in existence show that the Cross looked exactly thesame as it did in the Market Place in 1840.   There is no evidence that the Cross stood on a set of concentric steps as speculated at one point by the Hyslops and claimed in a recent tourist booklet.  It is most likely that the Cross has never changed in appearance except when buried.   Referring to it as ‘’a remnant’’ only seems to have enabled the project managers to treat the Cross carelessly.

In shape and form this Cross might be regarded as ‘crude’ if compared to some of the elaborately-designed Crosses in larger towns. However by the late 18th Ce

ntury many towns had their Crosses demolished under ‘street improvements’.   Luckily, owing to the uniquely peculiar circumstances of our Cross’s mysterious burial and resurrection, as described by the Hyslops, it has survived and should be cherished.  Regretting their loss of heritage many towns erected replicas or inauthentic versions.     Langholm’s  original authentic Cross deserves far greater respect from conservationists and townspeople. 

Social conditions in Eskdale in 1621

To understand this Cross, and the new Burgh’s cultural and historical context, it has to be appreciated that even after the Union of the Crowns, Eskdale was still undergoing ‘’pacification’’.  In founding a Burgh of Barony the King was colluding with the feudal barons  to  suppress once and for all the old reiving  families and end any remaining traces of a pre-feudal  communal society.  In the early 1600s border ‘names’ such as the Armstrongs were being summarily executed or deported.

A Cross built here could never be conventionally ‘beautiful’.  Instead it has an aesthetic reflecting the conditions in which the new Burgh emerged.  The simple, crude, Cross was in tune with Eskdale’s rough, turbulent history.  The new Burgh was small and poor.  The Cross reflects the Scottish virtue of ‘’makin’ muckle o’ sma’ means’’.   Consisting only of a plinth and pillar carved in local sandstone, surmounted by an oval granite boulder roughly engraved with a Celtic cross  it is precisely this ‘crudeness’ and absence of pretentions we should admire.  Whether sculpted and erected in the early 1600s or even earlier, this Cross exhibits an honest, defiant quality recognisable in the living tradition of the Common Riding. 

the plinth eroded by rainwater

Winning the Argument-
 

Eventually after years of denial from local councillors I presented my Freedom of Information research together with the full history of the Cross to Historic Scotland in Edinburgh and the Conservation Officer in Dumfries.  These authorities then had no alternative but to agree that the mistakes of 1998 must be rectified.   Their decision was that the minimal repairs to the Cross proposed by the community council (only grouting at top and bottom-no raising of the plinth) was inadequate.  It must be restored to its pre-1998 appearance and ‘’shall include a scheme to raise the plinth to be set as originally intended and to protect the plinth from ground moisture’’.  This decision was vital because otherwise the Cross would have been left submerged possibly forever. 

The specialist conservationist, (Graciella Ainsworth Conservation) has provided a detailed specification for ‘’raising the cross’’ which has been approved by Historic Scotland and the Conservation Officer in February 2011.

Whatever councillors or officials might say, the Mercat Cross should be classified as a Common Good, like the Kilngreen and Town Hall.  This story shows how the Burgh of Langholm was virtually founded on the Cross.  Its restoration costs should be financed together with the Town Hall. 

 
    The Mercat Cross at Greenbank ( Langholm As it Was 1912) 
Mercat Cross standing in Market Place 
(Daguerrotype) c1840

A Vision 

September 2021 will be the 400^th anniversary of the founding of the Burgh of Barony of Langholm.  Before that we should be taking steps to regenerate our High Street. This must involve taking steps against heavy freight traffic which dominates the street undermining our civic wellbeing.   The intimidating heavy lorries should be re-directed to motorway or rail, and speed limits in the High Street should be reduced to 20mph. Pavements must be widened with priority  given to pedestrians. Footfall, the great dream of the shopkeepers, is done on foot, not in a car.  Making the urban environment  more pedestrian-friendly will mean  giving more space over to people to walk about. It is pedestrians that go to shops and cafes, not cars.

The plethora of ugly road signs disfiguring the townscape should be removed and car parking restricted not just for the sake of the ‘traffic flow’, but to enhance the experience of people on foot or cycle.    All successful towns have an attractive central open public place where it is possible  walk or sit in peace and where people can chat without the roar of traffic. We need in the middle of the town a relaxing place where it’s possible to meet and where community events can take place.

A Heritage Trail is pointless without taking action to save our townscape heritage and ''place-making''  places worth being in.  If we want to become a  ‘’heritage town’’ attractive to visitors  we could alter the vehicular access in and out of Parliament Square and create a large area of the Market Place where the Mercat cross and Malcolm Statue could be relocated to their original site.