Description

Restored 1888. Octagonal Burgh Cross with tall, narrow shaft (probably 16th century) and later stepped octagonal base and podium. Capital and cross head also added 1888. Cast-iron plaque facing Canongate with stags head emblem.

Statement of Interest

Part of an 'A Group' comprising Canongate Parish Church; Canongate Tolbooth; 167-169 Canongate; 142-146 Canongate, Huntly House; 140 Canongate, Acheson House and the Canongate Burgh Cross which together form the historic core of the former Canongate Burgh (see separate listings).

The Canongate Burgh Cross is now prominently located within a forecourt area to the East of the entrance to Canongate Kirk (see separate listing). The Cross was an intrinsic part of civic life in the city during the 17th and 18th centuries. It served as a place for merchants to gather and was also where public executions took place and where official proclamations were made.

The Original Name Book of the Ordnance Survey (1852), describes the Canongate Burgh Cross as "a plain pillar surmounted by a cross bearing the Canongate arms". It states that it formerly stood in the centre of the street opposite the tolbooth. It stood at NT 2643 7379 in 1852 but John Drummond, in 1861, states that it was placed against the wall of the Tolbooth, noting that 'the staple for fixing the jougs still remained'. The RCAHMS inventory states that in 1888, the octagonal shaft of the cross was provided with a new base, capital, and cross-head, and was erected on the W side of the entrance to the parish church. It was subsequently moved again in 1951 to its present location on the E side of the entrance.

List description revised as part of Edinburgh Holyrood Ward resurvey, 2008.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17812519

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)