What’s hidden inside Cross?
The Market Cross is a familiar sight for Chichester residents but many people will be unaware there is more to the historic structure than meets the eye.
Believed to have been built in 1501, the Market Cross was made to allow the peasants of the city to sell their wares without having to pay a fee.
In 1808 the city’s population had grown considerably and so a larger dedicated market area was allocated and the structure’s eight arches were blocked off.
In modern times the cross has become a popular meeting place but many of its admirers may not know that above the building is a small room.
The space is home to the electrical wiring for the lights outside, as well as an historic clock mechanism, which was used for clocks on the outside. These days the clocks are electric but the mechanism remains.
Over the years visitors to the room have scratched their names into the stone walls.
Inscriptions include: ‘C. Muller 2016’, ‘Kilroy was here’, ‘17/12/62’, ‘Ryan Pearce 18/12/08’, ‘1976’.
One plaque in the space dates back to 1903: “In commemoration of the coronation of King Edward VII this cross was repaired by public subscription.”
Chichester City Council, which owns the building, chose to turn the lights around the Market Cross blue on Monday, July 5.
The change of colour was to celebrate NHS, social care and frontline workers.
It also turned the lights blue outside the Council House in North Street.
For more pictures inside the Market Cross, visit: www. chichester.co.uk