The Butter Cross - Trust Annual Report 1982
The correct name for this familiar object is, of course, the `City Cross'. It came to be known by its present name because in the early 19th century the retail butter merchants used to assemble around it. The Fraternity of the Holy Cross erected it during the reign of Henry the Sixth, and the chief figures represented are William of Wykeham, Florence de Anne, the Mayor of Winchester, Alfred the Great and Saint Lawrence.
Whilst pleased to see people sitting on the steps, the Trust is becoming increasingly concerned about wear and tear on the carved stonework. Anxiety about its preservation is not new. In 1807 Britton complained that it was being injured by 'boys and childish men'.