Monument record 4745/5 - Alderton Market

In 1278 Pagan de Chaworth received a grant of a weekly market at Alderton to be held on a Thursday together with a fair for three days from the eve of the feast of St. Margaret (the dedication of the church). There is no significant source available prior to 1278 which might enable the presence of an earlier market or fair to be established, though there is no reason to believe that such existed. The extent of the manor in 1364-5 makes no reference to a market or fair and so it is reasonable to conclude that it no longer functioned by that time. Where medieval markets were lost in Northamptonshire it was generally by this date or soon after and they were in some cases in decline well before the first plague in 1348, so the absence of reference to the market or fair in 1364-5 does not prove that they did not function in the later 13th and early 14th century.

{1}(Source also relates to initial summary text).

There is no significant evidence amongst the limited number of medieval sources regarding trades in Alderton in the medieval period, to assist in this question. There is one reference to a resident carpenter in Alderton in 1349. It would not be surprising that Alderton market did fail if it was actually established, lying as it did between the two very successful medieval market towns of Towcester and Stony Stratford. Unfortunately the paucity of documentation for Alderton in the medieval period means that it is impossible to be certain whether the market and fair were ever actually established, but it is perhaps significant that Pagan died in 1278, the year he received the grant, and so the initiative to found a market and fair may never have been carried forward. Not surprisingly Baker records that neither market nor fair had been observed within living memory and certainly no market or fair functioned in Alderton in the post medieval period. It is however perhaps significant that the late medieval attempt to found a market at nearby Grafton Regis was on the same day as that which had earlier been granted for the market at Alderton.

The castle and church were both in existence before the granting of the market in 1278. If any market place was established in the late 13th century then it must either have occupied an existing Green or have been inserted into a well established village plan. There is no clear indication to suggest that either green was added to the settlement plan as late as 1278 and it seems likely that an existing green would have served as the market place and site of the fair, if either did function. The most likely location would be at the gate of the castle adjacent to the church.

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

Record last edited

Apr 28 2008 2:30PM