Monument record 1842/3/1 - Market Place, Thrapston

The market place is identifiable but the exact location of the medieval shops, stalls, bakehouse and market cross are uncertain while we also lack detailed documentary information as to the numbers and character of the shops and stalls. The market place has also been intensively built over and so may have very limited archaeological potential. The recovery of basic evidence on the chronology of the laying out of the market place would be significant.

{2} The market place had been largely built over by 1782 {3} when first mapped, but it may originally have extended from the church on the east to Chancery Lane on the west and from the High Street on the south to the castle and manor on the north.

A market was already in existence by 1205 when Baldwin de Veer gave 2 palfreys for the confirmation of his rights to hold a Tuesday market. Unfortunately there is no evidence as to when the market was first established, whether by the de Veres following their acquisition of the manor in the second half of the 12th century or by their precursors. Unlike so many of the lesser markets which did function in the 13th and first half of the 14th century, but which decayed and were extinguished in the decades following the Black Death, Thrapston market and fair continued to function, being mentioned in 1366 and then again in 1386.

The Market cross stood on the market place in the 15th century, at the west end of a row of shops or stalls. If these shops and stalls were on the site of the tenements fronting south onto the High Street then the cross may have been situated on the eastern side of Chancery Lane near its junction with the High Street. Somewhere within the market place will also have lain the pillory and tumbrel though their exact location has not been identified.

There was at least one row of shops or stalls in the market place which had already, at least in part, been converted to permanent residences by 1364, when there is reference to a bakehouse and a cottage in 'le Draperie'. Shops and stall remained in the market place, even after the impact of the plagues, for they were included in a lease of the market and fair in 1431-2. The shops and stalls would appear, by the early 15th century if not before, to have been arranged in at least two rows divided by a footway. In 1433 Richard de Veer granted to John Glover a certain parcel of land in the market place to the east of the cross and bounded on the east by a 3 ft wide footway and then by the shop of Richard Knight, while on the north it was bounded by another footway leading into the market and then by the shop of John Gryndell. It is possible that both shops and stalls had similar origin in one or more rows of stalls.

The bakehouse appears to have been situated on the market place for it is included in various leases of the market in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Whereas the properties on the northern part of the presumed market place may represent late infill, the tenement row fronting south onto the High Street may have originated in the row of medieval stalls and shops, probably called the Draperie, which extended from the market cross south eastward. From the evidence of the 1782 map one might even argue for a relatively standard plot width of 32ft or multiples thereof. Various shops are recorded in surviving 14th century deeds, as is a cottage in `le Draperie' in 1386. It is unclear how far east the shops and stalls will have extended but such infilling would explain the isolated location of the church as seen in 1782, surrounded by properties on all sides and only accessible by three small lanes or footways.

There is no evidence to suggest that the market was ever in serious difficulties and the creation of the Nene navigation in 1761 with the construction of a wharf at Thrapston and then the arrival of the railway in 1849 ensured its continued success. Unlike some other markets in the county, such as Brackley and Rothwell, the Tuesday market at Thrapston thus continued to thrive and in 1849 the town was said to be 'famed for its good supply of corn and pigs' and also involved in the importation of coal and timber by both river and rail. A second railway line arrived in 1866 and in 1870 the Thrapston Market Company was formed by act of parliament, controlling all the profits of the market and fair. Though the general market lapsed in the 20th century the town was one of only a handful of places in the county to maintain a cattle market into the second half of the century.
For further details see main report.

<1> Taylor J.; Foard G.; Ballinger J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Overview, Appendix 2 (part checked) (Report). SNN103118.

<2> Foard G., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Thrapston (Medieval + Post Medieval), (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN100460.

<3> 1781 (circa), Thrapston Inclosure Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN100461.

Record last edited

Oct 18 2019 12:13PM