In 2022, the unicorn that sits on top of the mercat cross was vandalised - pushed from the plinth and shattered on impact. Assessments have stated that it's beyond repair. We are campaigning to ensure a replacement is made and returned to its rightful place.
Fife Council archaeologist Douglas Speirs said of the mercat cross:
"There had been a market cross on Dunfermline High Street since the later-1120s."
"It's been subject to replacement and repair many times over the centuries – 1396, 1620, 1695, 1752," he explained. "The cross we see today is a replacement erected by public subscription in 1868, with the horn of the unicorn replaced by the council only last year.
"For almost 1,000 years, the heart of Dunfermline’s marketplace has been watched over by its market cross. The town’s oldest feature of municipal architecture, it has always been a monument of civic pride.
"It’s the spot from which every momentous event in the town’s, and the country’s, history, has been announced. The site from which innumerable royal proclamations have been announced; from where deals have been done and rebels have been denounced since the early 12th century.
"Indeed, it’s central place in the heart of the burgesses of Dunfermline has ensured that it’s always been looked after."