Whitecross Street, Monmouth
John Speed's 1610 map of Monmouth, showing Whitecross Street (marked L)
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| Location | Monmouth, Wales |
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| Coordinates | 51°48′47″N 2°42′48″W / 51.8131°N 2.7134°WCoordinates: 51°48′47″N 2°42′48″W / 51.8131°N 2.7134°W |
| East | St James Square |
| West | Church Street |
Whitecross Street is a historic street in the town centre of Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was in existence by the 15th century, and appears as Whit crose on the 1610 map of the town by cartographer John Speed. It runs in an east-west direction, between Church Street and St James Square. It has been suggested that the street takes its name from a plague cross. Whitecross Street is lined with numerous listed buildings.
Like several other streets in Monmouth, Whitecross Street is believed to have been laid out and named by the middle of the 15th century. It is located inside the medieval walls of the town, built around 1300. Most of the street's buildings were originally based on narrow burgage plots, with gable ends facing the street. St James House in Whitecross Street, though later rebuilt, is regarded as a particularly good example of the style.
On the map of Monmouth (pictured) engraved by John Speed in 1610, Whitecross Street (L on the map) is referred to as Whit crose. As discussed in a 2009 watching brief by the firm of Monmouth Archaeology, it has been assumed that the street was named after a white cross. Historically, such a cross was customarily a plague cross (link to example below). It is speculated that the cross in question might be the one drawn by Speed in the churchyard of St Mary's Priory Church on his 1610 map. However, according to local publisher and antiquary Charles Heath, writing in 1804, the stone cross after which the street was named was located on the site of a later public weighing machine, and its remains "were in existence in the memory of the present inhabitants."
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