The Round House And Base Of Medieval Market Cross

The Round House and base of the Medieval Market Cross is a market house and preaching cross located in Launceston. The base of the cross dates back to medieval times, while the market house was built in 1829 for the Duke of Northumberland. It features a granite plinth and is otherwise made of stuccoed brick, with buttressed angles and a moulded cornice leading to an embattled parapet. The building has a conical slate roof topped with a tall weather vane and is designed in a Gothic style with an octagonal plan. It is a single storey structure with four open bays, each having two-centred-arched openings. The shaft of the cross is a short dressed granite monolith. This cross was historically significant as it was the site where former Members of Parliament were proposed when Newport was a separate Parliamentary Borough.