Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016162
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016162
In medieval times the mercat cross indicated burgh status-a community established either as a royal burgh by the king or as a burgh of barony by secular or ecclesiastical vassals. Only stone crosses survive, though wood would also once have been used. The term 'cross' is less than accurate, however; most simply tapered to a simple head, often decorated, but not cruciform.
Preston cross, of yellow sandstone, has been described as the most handsome in Scotland. Dating to the early 17th century, probably to just after 1617 when Preston was granted a weekly market and annual fair, it is one of only two of its type surviving in Scotland and the only one in its original position.
The central shaft ends in a rectangular capital topped with a unicorn supporting a tablet carved with a lion rampant Below, the column is set in the rare and distinctive circular 'rotunda', some 4.3 m diameter by 3.7 m high. Six of the compartments, separated vertically by pilasters, have niches fitted with seats and semi-circular scallop-shell heads. The other two contain doorways-one leading to a small vaulted chamber; the other taking a narrow winding stair to the upper, crier's platform.
Preston, like the once separate coastal settlement of Salt Prieston/Prestonpans, was associated with the monks of New battle and Holyrood. From the later 14th century it belonged to a branch of the Hamilton family. Of interest nearby: the mainly 15th century Preston Tower with its 17th century, rectangular, 1000 bird, lectern-type doocot; a fragment of the 17th century Preston House; the 17th century two-storey
Hamilton House with its courtyard. A beehive-shaped 600 bird doocot not far from the mercat cross is probably 16th-17th century; it was associated with the late 16th-early 17th century Northfield House, an unfortified tower-house with turreted stairs (exteriors viewable).
Information from 'Exploring Scotland's Heritage: Lothian and Borders', (1985).
