The Medieval Market ran once, on 5 September 2026, and the council has not repeated it. The nearest medieval market now is Michaelmas at Singleton, 3 and 4 October.
Updated Wednesday 16 September 2026. The Medieval Market has been and gone: it ran for one day only, from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 5 September, around the Market Cross and on Cathedral Green. There is no second date. It was staged as the opening event of Chichester City Council’s 800th anniversary programme, and the council has not announced a repeat.
Missed the Medieval Market? What is still on
Three things from the same anniversary programme are still running or still to come, and none of them needs a ticket:
- The civic history exhibition, last days to Thursday 17 September. Council Chamber and Smith Gallery at The Council House, North Street, 10am to 4pm. The council’s own events calendar is still listing it day by day, including Sundays. Free, no booking.
- The Novium Museum display, first floor, Tudor Street: royal celebrations, historic city guidebooks and Chichester’s twinning links. A separate stop from the Council House.
- Procession and Proclamation, Saturday 31 October. Councillors process to the Market Cross to recreate the old lantern-lighting tradition. Lantern-making workshops will run at the Council House in the days before it; as of 15 September the council’s page still says the workshop dates are to be announced.
Both evening talks have now gone, Part 1 on 2 September and Part 2 on 7 September, and so has the Heritage Open Day at the Council House on Sunday 13 September.
The nearest medieval market to Chichester now: Michaelmas at Singleton, 3 and 4 October
If what you wanted was the market itself, the stalls and the living history rather than the civic anniversary, the closest equivalent this autumn is Michaelmas at the Weald & Downland Living Museum, Town Lane, Singleton, PO18 0EU, on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October 2026, 10am to 5pm. The Tudor Group stages a market around the museum’s market square “as it might have been in the 16th century”, with demonstrations of sixteenth-century life, and the museum’s interpretation team holds a celebration meal in Bayleaf Farmstead on the Saturday. It is included in normal museum admission and in membership, so there is no separate ticket for the market itself. Singleton is about six miles north of Chichester on the A286. The museum warns that activities and demonstrations can change with the weather.
That is a Tudor market rather than a strictly medieval one, but it is the same idea: period traders, craft demonstrations and costumed interpreters, and it is the nearest thing on the calendar to what ran at the Market Cross on 5 September.
Chichester’s own markets, which do run all year
The Medieval Market was a one-day event, but Chichester has two regular markets that sell some of the same things, produce, bread, honey and cheese, every month:
- Chichester Farmers’ Market, city centre, 9am to 2pm on the first and third Friday of every month. Every stallholder has to grow, rear, bake or preserve their own produce and be based within 50 miles of Chichester. Chichester District Council’s remaining 2026 dates are 18 September, 2 and 16 October, 6 and 20 November, and 4 and 18 December.
- Pop-up craft markets at the Cross, a few times a year, with handmade food, textiles, jewellery and prints.
The rest of this page is the full record of the market and the programme around it.
Chichester City Council is marking 800 years since its foundations with a free Medieval Market around the Market Cross and Cathedral Green on Saturday 5 September, the first of a run of anniversary events through September and October, the council has announced.
The council dates the organisation to 1226, and its programme page says 2026 “marks 800 years since the foundations of the organisation we know today as Chichester City Council”. The city’s civic history is older still: the first of the two anniversary talks covers the period from Chichester’s first Royal Charter in 1135 to local government reorganisation in 1974.
The Medieval Market, Saturday 5 September
The market runs from 10am to 5pm around the Market Cross and on Cathedral Green. No tickets are needed. The council’s listing promises stalls selling traditional goods including eggs, honey and freshly baked bread, alongside a set of demonstrations and workshops:
- butter-making and medieval bread-making workshops using period recipes
- spinning, weaving and felt hat-making demonstrations
- a working forge with a blacksmith
- a medieval surgeon explaining how wounds and illnesses were treated
- a moneyer showing how coins were struck, and a relic seller with pilgrim badges
- stocks, for anyone who wants to “punish” friends and family
Medieval grave diggers and a ratcatcher will wander the crowds, and Cathedral Green will have live medieval music, storytelling and have-a-go archery. The council says it expects the day to be popular and advises allowing plenty of time.
Getting to the Medieval Market, and parking on a Saturday
The market sits on the pedestrianised heart of the city, so nobody parks at it. The Market Cross is where North, South, East and West Streets meet, and Cathedral Green is directly behind the Cathedral off West Street. Chichester railway station is a walk of roughly ten minutes north up South Street to the Cross.
Saturday is a full charging day in every Chichester District Council car park, and the market runs straight through it. Charging is 8am to 8pm at the short stay car parks and at Northgate, and 8am to 6pm at Avenue de Chartres, Basin Road and Cattle Market. On the council’s 2026-27 tariffs, four hours costs £4.60 in a long stay car park, £7.70 in a short stay one and £10.00 in Little London or Baffins Lane, the two central short stay car parks nearest the Cross. For a day out that is a difference of more than five pounds for the same four hours.
The four long stay car parks are Northgate (907 spaces), Avenue de Chartres (890), Cattle Market (836) and Basin Road (115), and they are the sensible choice for a market visit of several hours. Two watch-outs: Avenue de Chartres has a 1.93 metre height barrier and Cattle Market 2.3 metres, so a roof box or a high-top van will not get in. Market Road and the northern part of Orchard Street are season ticket only on weekdays but revert to pay and display on Saturdays, which is worth knowing on a busy day.
You can pay by cash, card or MiPermit; the location codes are 711015 for Northgate, 711014 for Cattle Market and 711012 for Avenue de Chartres. Full tariffs, including the two council car parks that are free all day, are on our parking in Chichester page, and current closures are on the roadworks and travel page.
Exhibition at the Council House, 1 to 17 September
An exhibition of the council’s civic history opens on Tuesday 1 September in the Council Chamber and Smith Gallery at The Council House on North Street, running 10am to 4pm daily until Thursday 17 September. Exhibits include council records, medals, mayoral and royal occasion memorabilia, city guides and Jubilee souvenirs. No booking is needed. (One of the council’s promotional images gives 18 September as the closing date; the programme text and the exhibition listing both say the 17th, so check before a late visit.)
The council has also added a second, separate display at The Novium Museum on Tudor Street, on the first floor, covering royal celebrations, historic city guidebooks and Chichester’s twinning connections. It is not in the Council House, so it is a second stop rather than part of the same room.
Two evening talks, 2 and 7 September
The council is putting on two free talks at 6pm in the Assembly Room at The Council House, on Wednesday 2 September and Monday 7 September. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance, through the council’s Ticket Tailor pages linked from the programme page.
- Part 1: Mayors, Maces and Municipalities, 1135 to 1974. Local historian Alan Green traces how Chichester was governed from its first Royal Charter through the medieval period, the Civil War and the Victorian era, up to the 1974 reorganisation.
- Part 2: Friendships, Freedoms and Functions in a Changing Local Government Landscape. Former Mayor and current city councillor Anne Scicluna and former Town Clerk Rodney Duggua look at the council since 1974, including twinning and its modern civic role, drawing on Rodney Duggua’s 51 years in local government.
The council’s page lists the talks in that order against the two dates; the booking pages confirm which talk falls on which evening.
Heritage Open Day, Sunday 13 September
As part of the national Heritage Open Days festival, the Council House opens its doors from 10am to 4pm on Sunday 13 September, with access to the Mayor’s Parlour and Council Chamber and displays of items such as the Mayor’s Robe and the Town Clerk’s wig. City councillors and local historians will guide visitors. No booking is needed, though the council warns there may be a wait for a guided tour. The event is also listed on the Heritage Open Days site.
Procession and Proclamation, Saturday 31 October
The programme closes with city councillors processing to the Market Cross on 31 October to recreate an old civic tradition: the Mayor was once responsible for lighting the way through the city after dark, with lanterns and the “municipal moon”. Residents and visitors are invited to join the procession, and lantern-making workshops will be held at the Council House in the days beforehand. Dates and details for those are still to be announced; under-16s must be accompanied by an adult.
Common questions
Is the Chichester Medieval Market free?
Yes. The council says tickets are not required to attend, and there is no admission charge for the market, the archery, the demonstrations or the entertainment on Cathedral Green. Only the two evening talks are ticketed, and those tickets are free as well.
What time does the Medieval Market start and finish?
10.00am to 5.00pm on Saturday 5 September 2026, a single day.
Where exactly is it held?
Around the Market Cross, at the junction of North, South, East and West Streets, and on Cathedral Green behind the Cathedral. The stalls and demonstrations are at the Cross; the live medieval music, storytelling and have-a-go archery are on the Green.
Is it suitable for children?
Yes. The have-a-go archery, the stocks, the butter-making and bread-making workshops and the wandering ratcatcher and grave diggers are all aimed at families, and none of it needs booking. The council does warn it expects the day to be busy, so allow time.
Is this an annual event, and when is the next Chichester Medieval Market?
There is no next one on the calendar. It was a one-off, staged as the opening event of Chichester City Council’s 800th anniversary programme, which the council dates to foundations laid in 1226. Nothing on the council’s programme page announces a 2027 market, and as of 16 September the page has not been updated since 31 July. The rest of that programme runs through September and closes with a procession to the Market Cross on 31 October.
Is there another medieval market near Chichester in 2026?
The closest is Michaelmas at the Weald & Downland Living Museum in Singleton, six miles north on the A286, on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October, 10am to 5pm. The Tudor Group runs a sixteenth-century market around the museum’s market square and it is covered by ordinary museum admission.
Will the Medieval Market come back in 2027?
Nothing has been announced. The market existed because of the 800th anniversary, and the council’s programme ends on 31 October 2026. If it returns it would be a new decision rather than a diary fixture, so treat any 2027 date you see elsewhere as unconfirmed until it appears on the council’s own page.
What was actually for sale at the market?
Stalls sold traditional goods including eggs, honey and freshly baked bread. The rest was demonstration rather than retail: butter-making, spinning, weaving, felt hat-making, a working forge, a moneyer striking coins and a relic seller with pilgrim badges.
Did the Medieval Market actually go ahead on 5 September?
Yes. It ran on Saturday 5 September 2026, 10am to 5pm, around the Market Cross and on Cathedral Green, as advertised, with free admission and no tickets.
What it means for you
- Saturday 5 September in the city centre will be busy. The market occupies the Market Cross and Cathedral Green from 10am to 5pm. If you are driving in, allow for pressure on the central car parks; the city’s roadworks and travel page has the current closures.
- Book the talks now if you want a seat. They are free but ticketed and booking is required in advance.
- The exhibition and Heritage Open Day need no booking, so they suit a spare hour in town.
- Diarise 31 October if you have children who would enjoy making a lantern; the workshop dates will follow on the council’s page.
For more on the city’s civic buildings and where to visit, see things to do in Chichester.
Sources: Chichester City Council at 800, Chichester City Council, accessed 16 August 2026, re-checked 8, 15 and 16 September 2026 (the page still carries its 31 July byline and still says the lantern workshop dates are to be announced). Car park tariffs and charging hours from Chichester District Council’s 2026-27 fees and charges. Farmers’ Market day, times and 2026 dates from Chichester District Council. Michaelmas dates and details from the Weald & Downland Living Museum.
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