Dunster Butter Cross

The transplanted stump of a medieval stone cross, once a meeting place for butter-sellers.

Dunster is a popular visitor attraction, and retains many fine historic buildings and monuments, including the Butter Cross, which probably once stood at the north end of the high street. Today it has been relegated to a bank beside Alcombe road, but it still has an important story to tell about the village.

Crosses similar to the Butter Cross once stood in the centre of towns and villages and naturally became places where merchants would strike deals. The Butter Cross probably acquired its name from the fact that butter was sold near its original site. It is not known when it was removed to its present location, though local tradition says this was in 1825.

The head of the cross has disappeared, but the broken shaft seems to date from the 15th century. If so, it was probably the last of several replacements.