As seen in August 2012, the ‘cross’ is an eye-catcher at the south end of South Parade; the fake inscription about 10 feet up the main shaft is weathering; there is no vestige of any twelfth-century material.

The cross was rebuilt by the corporation in 1793 by “Henry Heaton Esq. Mayor”, whose name is on the base (not seen). The cross was rebuilt from a former cross which carried (as does the present version) a memorial inscription to Otes de Tilly, steward of Conisbrough for the Warenne family. He was active around 1147 to 1190, holding knights' fees from the Lascy family in 1166; his son was called Otes too (Clay 1949). The memorial seems to be accepted as being for the father (not necessarily in his life time, but I think we could say before 1200). The inscription to Otes de Tilly, which has been recorded in slightly different forms but with the same meaning, appears to have been recut, but may well record a Romanesque original.

According to Hunter (1828, 10-11), the earlier cross was a cylindrical column, 18ft high (6.3m), with 4 half cylinders of smaller diameter attached to it. Each column was originally surmounted by a cross patté raised on a slender shaft. In the Civil War the Puritans wanted to destroy it, and seem to have pulled down the crosses. The mayor of the time saved it from destruction, but instead of crosses he put a dial and balls at the top of the shafts. Originally the cross stood in Hallgate, but it was taken down in 1793 and was rebuilt from the same materials. However, J. E. Jackson stated 'none of the old materials appear to have been used for the purpose', i.e., re-erection in 1793 in the present position (1853, XIV, p. lxxxviii-xci).

Maurice Johnson, writing to William Stukeley in 1744 (Lukis 1887, 352) describes the earlier cross and the inscription. A drawing of the ‘Doncaster Cross’ was published in 1753 in Vetusta Monumenta 2, plate 10 (reproduced on the British Museum website) but that drawing was according to the same source copied from an ‘old painting’ formerly belonging to Leeds antiquarian Ralph Thoresby (1658-1724). Johnson gives the inscription as: +I:CESTES:LA:CRVICE:OTE:DE:TILLIA:KI:ALME:DEV:ENFIACE:MERCI:AM - +

The Vetusta Monumenta version (1753) is:

Ices: Est: La: Cruice: Ote: D: Tilliaki: Alme: Dev: En: Face: Merci: Am.

and Hunter in 1828 gives it as:

ICEST EST LA CRVICE OTE D TILLI A KI ALME DEV EN FACE MERCI - AMEN

Hunter and others have compared the cross to that at Braithwell (see Corpus report), a similarly much altered monument.

A council planning document on the South Parade Conservation Area, says 'The Hall Cross monument is contemporary with the Georgian terraces and is the focal point.'