Market Cross

Historic Site, Chichester

The Market Cross stands at the junction of North, South, East, and West Streets, the central crossroads of Chichester since Roman times. Built in 1501 by Edward Story, Bishop of Chichester, the octagonal stone structure was intended to shelter market traders and the poor from the rain. It is one of the most ornate market crosses surviving in England, with carved buttresses, a vaulted ceiling, and a clock added in the eighteenth century. The cross is Grade I listed and has been restored several times, most recently in the early 2000s. It remains a meeting point and a symbol of the city, reproduced on countless postcards and official publications. The structure marks the exact centre of the walled city.