Haddington, High Street, Market Cross
Market Cross (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Haddington, High Street, Market Cross
Classification Market Cross (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 56529
Site Number NT57SW 4
NGR NT 51617 73870
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/56529
- Council East Lothian
- Parish Haddington
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District East Lothian
- Former County East Lothian
NT57SW 4 51617 73870.
(NT 5161 7387) Market Cross (NR) (site of)
OS 1:1056 map (1854)
Cross (NAT)
OS 1:2500 map (1973)
One of the first references to Haddington Market Cross occurs in 1425. A pre-Reformation cross existed until 1693 when a notice in the Town Council records indicates that stones had been purchased for "building ane new cross". That cross was said to have had a square base with four steps, surmounted by a unicorn. In 1811 an Englishman climbed the cross, but in the process pulled over the shaft and broke it into pieces. That cross was subsequently replaced by a wooden post, about 12ft high, standing at NT 5162 7387 in 1853 (Name Book 1853). The current market cross, gifted in 1881, stands in the High Street near the site of the original cross. (In 1853, the site of the market cross was indicated by a circle in the roadway, and local informants could remember when it had been standing. Comparison between the 1854 and 1973 plans shows that the present cross stands on the site of the earlier one).
R Gourlay and A Turner 1977
No further information was obtained during field investigation.
Visited by OS (BS) 10 July 1975