BRIDGWATER HIGH CROSS. 63 
Bridguater Bigy Cross. 
BY MR. W. BAKER. 
HE Cross here represented stood on the Corn- 
hill, at Bridgwater, opposite the entrance to 
High-street. It was used as a market place for 
many articles, especially for fish, “and over it was 
a cistern, to which water was conveyed from a 
brook, by an engine fixed in what was formerly 
called the Queen’s mill, and from this cistern water 
was carried into most of the streets of the town.” 
— Beauties of England, 1'164. 
The cross was also used for many public pur- 
poses, such as for addressing the people, for 
proclamations, &c. 
Oldmixon says “the Duke of Monmouth, after 
he was proclaimed king at Taunton (in his fatal 
rebellion) marched to Bridgwater. He was pro- 
claimed in this town at the high cross by the 
mayor and his brethren in their formalities, and 
here his declaration was read.” Many persons re- 
member there having been on the cross the very 
appropriate inscription “mind your own business.” 
This handsome old cross was taken down about 
fifty years ago. It was no longer required for 
sending water through the town; the mill which 
supplied the cistern was used for grinding corn; 
and as a market place, it was superseded by new 
and more commodious buildings. 
