At the geographical heart of rural Suffolk and on the River Gipping, lies the Town of Stowmarket. The Town is situated some 12 miles North West of Ipswich and 14 miles South East of Bury St. Edmunds and therefore it 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.
Originally an agricultural Market Town industry developed upon the canalization, in 1793, of the River Gipping bringing new prosperity to Stowmarket. Now the old towpath forms an enjoyable footpath through the GippingValley from Stowmarket railway station to the docks at Ipswich.
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. River traffic inevitably declined after the coming of the railways in 1846 and the Gipping Navigation was closed by an Act of Parliament in 1932.
Currently the town’s population is in the region of 19,000 people, which is growing at an increasing rate with much development at the North end of the town. Even though it is growing in size and population Stowmarket still hasn’t lost its charm, with a variety of listed buildings, typical of Suffolk's towns and villages.
