The Mountsorrel Buttermarket has been photographed, drawn and painted many times since it was first erected in 1793.
Lord of the Manor, Nicholas de Seagrave was granted a charter by Edward I in 1292 which allowed for a market to be held in the village every Monday. Little is known of the early days of this market except that a market cross existed at the junction of Watling Street and the main road.
This cross was a long, slender, octagonal fluted column, decorated along the flutings with carved heads and quatrefoils (a four-leafed, flower- shaped decorative feature). It was raised on a pedestal on top of three steps and at each corner of the pedestal was a carved, winged figure. On top of the cross was a canopied recess.
In 1793 this cross was removed by local landowner, Sir John Danvers, and taken to his estate in Swithland – where, incidentally, it can still be seen, glimpsed between the trees to the left of the road entering the village of Swithland.
In place of the cross Sir John commissioned the design of a Market house by the famous 18th century architect, William Thomas. The original, signed drawing for this building was discovered pasted into the personal copy of the “History of Leicestershire” belonging to the historian John Nichols when he donated the book to Leicester Corporation. It is believed that Sir John Danvers himself gave the drawing to Nichols.
The market house is described as ‘a neo-classical rotunda of 8 Tuscan columns supporting a low, stepped dome surmounted by an urn. It stands on a slightly raised circular platform of 6.5 metres in diameter, with a stone- flagged floor’.
The columns, consisting of sandstone blocks, stand on stone pads and support the lead-cased roof. The roof interior is plastered and the whole structure is topped by a stone, vase-shaped finial.
The market house was erected around 1793 and has stood on its original site ever since. It was particularly used by women selling butter on market day – hence its common name, the Buttermarket. Other commodities, such as raw wool, leather, gloves, woollen yarn and livestock were also important to the market trade. Whites Directory of 1846 states that “…. the market held on Monday is well-supplied with provisions.”
Unfortunately, the Buttermarket doesn’t always seem to have been such a treasured building in past years as it is today. Down the years it has received significant repairs – in particular to the columns, which had iron bands placed around some of them to strengthen the corroded stone. In 1995 some of these metal bands were removed, though the remainder stayed in place for safety reasons. Previous, unauthorised repairs had been carried out using concrete to fill in gaps in the stone but fortunately this has now been replaced by more suitable material.
The structure is now a Listed Grade II building under the responsibility of English Heritage. At the end of 2012 further repairs were begun, with the replacement of the lead on the roof of the dome and repairs to its interior.
As part of the Parish Council Centenary celebrations in 1994, lighting was installed in the floor of the Buttermarket to illuminate the monument at night. The Centenary also saw the erection of a replica market cross on the corner of Market Place and Sileby Road. Some villagers had hoped to bring the original cross back from Swithland but, even if this had been allowed, it was found that the cross itself was too delicate to be moved. Instead, sculptor, Mike Grevatte was commissioned to produce the fine structure that we now see.
The Buttermarket has been the landmark of the village for many decades, appearing on postcards, book covers, Parish Council literature and on the new library window, amongst other things. It is not merely an ancient, unused structure – it has been used as a setting for several Victorian markets which were held as fund – raisers for local charities and a meeting of the Mountsorrel By-Pass Committee was held under the dome to celebrate the government’s agreeing to build the much needed by-pass in 1991.
Source material
An unpublished design by William Thomas
Neglected Buttermarket,dirty and dilapidated
Fascinating, thank you.
Has there ever been a plan to return the market cross to Mountsorrel? Surely it is a part of the heritage of the village and belongs there for all to enjoy rather than left to be glimpsed in passing through some trees in some remote field? I’d be a little surprised if I was told this has never been thought of before.