Still there was one known as the Poultry Cross
nobody could fail to see whether walking or driving through Salisbury.
Although by no means a large erection, it formed one of the most
striking objects in the city, and a more beautiful piece of Gothic
architecture it would be difficult to imagine. It was formerly called
the Yarn Market, and was said to have been erected about the year 1378
by Sir Lawrence de St. Martin as a penance for some breach of
ecclesiastical law. It consisted of six arches forming an open hexagon,
supported by six columns on heavy foundations, with a central pillar
square at the bottom and six-sided at the top--the whole highly
ornamented and finished off with an elaborate turret surmounted by a
cross. It was mentioned in a deed dated November 2nd, 1335, and formed
a feature of great archaeological interest.
[Illustration: POULTRY CROSS, SALISBURY.]
The old portion of St. Nicholas' was in existence in 1227, and in the
Chorister's Square was a school established and endowed as far back as
the year 1314, to support fourteen choristers and a master to teach
them. Their costumes must have been rather picturesque, for they were
ordered to be dressed in knee-breeches and claret-coloured coats, with
frills at the neck instead of collars.
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