Market Cross, High Street, Edinburgh is a Grade A listed building in the City of Edinburgh local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 14 December 1970. Market cross. 2 related planning applications.

Market Cross, High Street, Edinburgh

WRENN ID
fading-finial-frost
Grade
A
Local Planning Authority
City of Edinburgh
Constituency
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh MP: Chris Murray (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
14 December 1970
Type
Market cross
Address
Market Cross, High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1RW
OS grid reference
NT 257 735
Coordinates
55.94964, -3.19021
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Market Cross on High Street in Edinburgh is a distinctive structure designed by Sydney Mitchell in 1885. It is a replica of former buildings from the 15th and 17th centuries. The cross features a large octagonal drum platform and a narrow shaft, with Ionic columns at each corner. Each face has a keyblocked round arch, and the deep parapet is adorned with ornately corbelled angle-rounds. The octagonal shaft has a moulded capital topped with a unicorn finial. The parapet faces display painted heraldic panels, and there is a carved inscription above a timber door that leads to an internal stairway, providing access to the platform.

Local climate

Market Cross, High Street, Edinburgh sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 970 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 53% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 25 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 2 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

See all similar buildings →

this building   1 similar   nearby listed buildings

Nearby listed buildings

  1. Police Chambers, 192 High Street, Edinburgh Grade A 32 m
  2. 186 High Street, Edinburgh Grade B 42 m
  3. St Giles Cathedral, High Street, Edinburgh Grade A 44 m
  4. 188 High Street, Edinburgh Grade B 45 m
  5. City Chambers, High Street, Edinburgh Grade A 46 m
  6. Statue Of King Charles Ii, Parliament Square, Edinburgh Grade A 50 m
  7. Statue, Courtyard, City Chambers, High Street, Edinburgh Grade A 50 m
  8. City Chambers, High Street, Edinburgh Grade A 56 m
  9. The Mackenzie Building, Old Assembly Close, 172 High Street, Edinburgh Grade B 62 m
  10. 170 High Street, Edinburgh Grade B 62 m