Chichester; Market Cross

Chichester's Market Cross was given to the city by Bishop Storey in 1501. To some extent this gift was an act of generosity, providing a covered marketplace from which Chichester's traders could sell their wares. In part however the Bishop was playing politics with the city authorities who had sought greater control over trade in Chichester. Until 1746 the clock on the cross was square. It was then replaced by four new clocks. How many thousands of Chichester shoppers have been told the time by looking up at the clock's massive black paddles over the quarter of a millennium since the clock was installed? Until the pedestrianisation of Chichester city centre the streets around the Cross used to be a busy highway with the main coastal road edging on the narrow gap between the Market Cross and the city centre shops. Nowadays, apart from a few buses, the centre of Chichester is more or less traffic free. (http://www.westsussex.info/chichester-cross.shtml)

For our final performance we decided to use the Market Cross as it is the centre of Chichester, connected by North, South, East and West it locates the heart of the city and as we are trying to access he community and what better way for us to explore this than in the centre of the city and community. As well as this there once was a Sloe Tree in the centre of Chichester where fair’s use to be held, this also adds to our final piece as we are looking at using a tree to symbolise the community as well as drawing attention to the natural spaces in Chichester.