Under Richard III, Middleham was a bustling market town and political centre. In 1389, the Lord of Middleham Manor received a crown grant to hold a weekly market and yearly fair on the feast of St Alkelda the Virgin. The town has market places: the larger, lower one is dominated by a medieval cross, topped by a modern iron cross in Celtic style. The upper or swine market centres on the remains of a 15th-century market cross and a line of steps. At one end of the cross is a worn effigy of an animal reclining; the other may have had a moulded capital.