Alfriston Market Cross

A market at Alfriston, then part of the Duchy of Lancaster, was granted by a charter dated 24 May 1406. The market was to be held every Tuesday. The charter was granted by King Henry IV to the king and his heirs as Dukes of Lancaster, to be held "at the king’s town". The charter also granted two fairs, to be held on the vigil and feast of Andrew the Apostle (30 November) and the vigil and feast of Philip and James (1 May) (the ‘vigil’ was the day before the saint's feast day). It is likely the market cross was erected around the time the charter was granted. Some sources suggest the ‘cornice-like stone at the top’ is a representation of a ‘shepherd’s crown’, a flint fossil of a sea urchin,…

In the Sussex Extensive Urban Survey (EUS) Historic Character Assessment Report for Alfriston (March 2008), the author, Roland Harris, remarked ‘The market cross at Alfriston may be a late medieval survival, although with a strong hint of the ship of Theseus paradox’; however, he recognised that ‘Not withstanding the rebuilding, the cross is a rare feature … within Sussex’.