IT is not every day that County Durham and the royal family have a connection – but one striking tourist attraction in Barnard Castle has generated plenty of chatter among residents after it’s being compared to a new playground built in the grounds of Prince Charles’ model village.
The Market Cross in Barnard Cross may have been built in 1747 as a gift from local wool merchant, Thomas Breaks, but that hasn’t stopped people mentioning the striking resemblance between the local landmark and a piece of new equipment at Prince Charles’ Poundbury ‘designer village’.
At the start of the month, pictures started to circulate of the new playground at Poundbury, Dorset, which is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall estate and has built a ‘clear vision’ of a walkable community.
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Since 1993, Poundbury has taken shape as a new community settlement, which now boasts, shops, bars, restaurants, civic buildings, and several thousands of acres of green space.
Despite many people across the country recognising other landmarks that they live near popping up on the new playground structure, those that live in Barnard Castle couldn’t shake the feeling of a new ‘Butter Cross’ building in the playground having similar features to that of their local Market Cross, which is also known as the butter market.
At first, many thought it was just a “strange coincidence,” but others have called the connection a sign of the town “having an effect far and wide”.
Town Mayor of Barnard Castle, Rima Chatterjee, has called the link between the County Durham location and the new playground “a great advert for the town” and is convinced that the inspiration behind the Butter Cross is from Barnard Castle.
She said: “As soon as I spotted the new playground pictures, it was without a doubt the Market Cross – what else could it be?
“Barnard Castle is steeped in such history, so I’m not surprised that it’s having an impact on national and even royal attractions. I was only recently shown the connection and I’ve shared it with a few people.
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“It’s a great thing to have interest of this kind and we welcome this news – let’s hope that it’s confirmed one day that Barnard Castle was used as a direct link.”
This connection of Barnard Castle in the national limelight comes after a less favourable link during the pandemic, which saw former Prime Minister advisor Dominic Cummings visit the town, despite the country being in lockdown at the time.
Despite all of the media attention on the town in recent times, the Mayor has looked on it in a positive manner and has highlighted that “any news is good news”.
Since the infamous incident with Mr Cummings, Barnard Castle has seen a major boost in visitor and tourist economy, which has included shops, restaurants, and the castle itself.
The Mayor added: “For better or worse, we’ve been in the headlines over the last few years and every bit of publicity is good publicity in my eyes.
“We’ve had people show interest in our indpedent businesses, pay money to our local economy and we hope this connection will bring even more people to discover Barnard Castle.”
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Now that the locals in Barnard Castle have claimed the Market Cross and Butter Cross connection as a definite match – why is the Market Cross so significant in the town?
Dividing the Market Place from the Bank is the Market Cross, also known locally at the Buttermarket, due to its function of providing shelter for the farmers’ wives, who sold dairy produce each Wednesday.
This iconic structure, built in 1747, was the gift of Thomas Breaks, a local wool merchant. It was built to replace the old tollbooth in the middle of Market Place. It has also functioned as a town hall.
The centre section was at one point used as cells for prisoners (called the "Black Hole"), with the market traders selling around the perimeter and the courtroom upstairs.
At one time, volunteer vigilantes had a night watch over shops from the upstairs room. The central downstairs housed the town's fire engine for a while (previously kept in the church).
In 1919, one shilling and six pence (7.5p) was paid to firemen for attending a fire.
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A bell in the cupola on top of the cross was rung in the event of a fire and the key to gain entry was hanging in a glazed box on the northern doors.
The Market Cross is octagonal in shape, surmounted by a bell-turret terminating in a weather-vane in which there are two bullet holes.
In 1803, amid fears of an imminent Napoleonic invasion, an argument broke out between a local man called Taylor -- one of the Teesdale Legion of Volunteers garrisoned in the town -- and Cruddas, the Earl of Strathmore's gamekeeper, as to who was the better marksman.
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