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The High Street, with its wide central area and stone Cross, is typical of an ancient market town that was revived by the wealth of its rich Victorian residents. The Market Cross in Forres has certainly continued to be the focus of commercial life since the town became a Royal Burgh as there are still occasional markets, celebrations and festivals held here in the shadow of the Tolbooth. Funded by public subscription, the present market cross dates from 1844 and was designed by the Elgin architect, Thomas Mackenzie, who was also responsible for the impressive building nearby, housing the Bank of Scotland. If the shape of the Forres market cross looks familiar, that is because it was designed to resemble the Scott Monument in Edinburgh.
Mercat Cross and Tolbooth Image kind permission Colin Smith – Creative Commons Lic.
Forres retains a typical medieval urban layout, with narrow lanes, or wynds, running off the main street. Merchants had their warehouses down these wynds. Looking into the wynds also conveys a little more of the history as the stone block work and cobbles show old track marks from the horse and carts that would have carried loads away from the High Street.
There is also a small area of original wooden hexagonal timer block work still remaining. The open space beside the market cross is a great place to take a break or perhaps just to stand and look up at the buildings around you for a few minutes to see if you can spot the golden cockerel and the two golden mortar and pestles. The first one is obvious on a nearby 19th century building and the second one is just above the traffic lights.
Thomas Mackenzie’s fine designs stands today in the form of Elgin Museum located on the High Street in the centre of the nearby town of Elgin which is now managed by local volunteers.
Open to visitors Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm, and Saturday 11am to 4pm (1st April to 5th November) it’s well worth a visit and houses a wide range of collections from art to architecture and fossils to photographs.