Stowmarket occupies a strategic location in the
centre of the county of Suffolk on the A14 road
from the Midlands and the North to the Euro-Port
of Felixstowe. The Town is also served by the
main Norwich to London rail link. The Town lies
on the River Gipping which joins the Orwell estuary
at Ipswich. The Gipping was made into a canal
in 1793 and the old towpath now forms an enjoyable
footpath through the Gipping Valley from Stowmarket
railway station to the docks at Ipswich.
The opening of the canal began a period of industrial
growth in Stowmarket, bringing trade and prosperity
to the Town. A population of 1500 grew to 3000
by 1841. New markets were now accessible to the
agricultural producers of the surrounding area.
Stowmarket was one of the country's major producers
of malt and the canal enabled the Town's maltsters
to send their products down to Ipswich and then
on to London by sea. The coming of the railway
in 1846 brought further prosperity to the Town,
but it also brought about the gradual demise of
the canal.
The medieval heart of Stowmarket lay around the
parish church of St. Peter and St. Mary and in
the area leading down to the riverbank. Today
the town has 131 buildings listed by the Department
of National Heritage as buildings of special architectural
or historic interest and one, the parish church,
is classified as being of 'exceptional interest'.
Edward III granted the Town a market charter in
July 1347. The Urban District Council purchased
these market rights in 1927 and the market continues
to serve local people under the Town Council's
auspices every Thursday and Saturday.
One of the Town's great assets is the Museum of
East Anglian Life which occupies a 70-acre site
within a stones throw from the market place. The
museum has grown greatly since it was opened in
1967 and is now one of the country's major open
air museums.
By Ron Pattle, President,
Stowmarket Society
To Find out more about the history of Stowmarket
see the 'Histrory' section of the stowmarket.org
online 'Resource
Library'.
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