Forres mercat cross
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Forres mercat cross by kim traynor as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Forres mercat cross
Image: © kim traynor Taken: 4 Sep 2013
The bronze plaque on the cross reads, "Erected by public subscription in 1844 to a design by Thomas Mackenzie, architect, Edinburgh. Bearing a strong similarity to the Scott Memorial, Princes Street, Edinburgh. The structure incorporates the base of an earlier cross of 17th century origin. Nearby, to the east, is located the site of an old town well, known to have existed from 1695 until 1855." Rising to the height of a three-storey building, this must be the tallest and biggest mercat cross in Scotland. Sadly, three of the four spires on the top storey are missing. I assume they must have been removed at some stage because of instability, but it is very surprising that they were not restored or replaced. It leaves the structure looking curiously incomplete.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
57.609776
Longitude
-3.613395