The origin and history of the market in Stowmarket goes back to before the Conquest, when the whole of Stowmarket and much of the neighbourhood was the property of King Edward the Confessor. It formed one of several Royal Manors in existence. According to the Doomsday Book, William the Conqueror (1086) held a market in the town even earlier than that!
Just prior to the 14th century, Crown ownership of the Manor ceased. Henry 1 granted private ownership of the Manor to the Abbot of St Osyth in Essex. In 1339 Richard Armondeville obtained a charter granting him the market franchise.
A new market charter was granted in 1349 to the Abbot which permitted a market every week on Thursday and a fair in the same place every year on the feast day of St Peter & Paul (29 June). The dissolution of the monasteries by Henry V111 in 1539 saw the market franchise revert to the Crown. In 1553 it was granted out again by Edward V1 to Sir Thomas Darcie.
In 1740 the income of the market was about £14 a year according to Hollingsworth’s history of Stowmarket. At that time, traders travelled to market by gig (a light two-wheeled carriage pulled by one horse) each trader having his wife behind him on a pillion (an extra saddle on a horse) with eggs and butter in a basket for sale. When the Corn Hall opened in the Market Place in the 1830s, £400 to £500 often changed hands each Thursday in corn dealings. Cattle at that time were driven to town in droves and pigs penned by the three hundred in the Greyhound Yard (which was located opposite the current Market Place). In 1843 an average of 200 gigs and light vehicles as well as 150 horsemen attended the town each Thursday.
From 1927 the market rights were held by the Stowmarket Urban District Council. With the re-organisation of local government in 1974, the rights transferred to the newly constituted Stowmarket Town Council. In 1984 the Cricket Meadow land was sold for the Meadow Centre / supermarket development. The Street Market was extended into the Meadow Centre in 1989.
The Market Today
The street market in Stowmarket is still going strong today. Over 20 permanent traders attend the market every Thursday and Saturday selling a wide range of quality products at competitive prices. A Farmers’ Market is also held on the first Friday of every month featuring traders selling quality local produce.
