Monument record 2416/2 - Oundle Market

The market at Oundle was founded prior to 1066 and was of only four settlements in the county with a market recorded in 1086.

{1}The late Saxon re-planning of the settlement will be a key issue in the development of the town as it is unclear whether the market place was established at the same time. The market, which was in existence before 1086, and probably in 971, lay immediately to the south of the manor and church. It is likely that the market place was established at this time, outside the gates of the manor and church, but it is possible that it was of earlier origin and related to the existence of the late Saxon market.

The date of foundation of Oundle market is not known. It is first supposedly mentioned in the charter of 971 but this is a forgery. However the primacy of Oundle market over that at Peterborough is supported by king Edgar’s charter of c.970, whether or not genuine. It talks of the markets of Oundle, Stamford and Huntingdon and says ‘we will that there be a market in Burch’ (Peterborough). The first certain reference is in 1086 when it was one of just three recorded for the county, in addition to the Borough at Northampton..

In 1086 Oundle was one of only four settlements with a recorded market, all of which had been important Saxon administrative foci. As a result, through the medieval period Oundle remained the main market centre for the middle Nene valley and its environs. However from the 11th century onwards it was always overshadowed by both Stamford and the rapidly growing town of Peterborough, which was developed by successive abbots around their monastery.

The Abbot’s right to hold a market at Oundle was confirmed in 1198 and in 1202 the market day was moved from Sunday to Saturday. In 1227, 1270 and 1332 there was further confirmation of the market and the right to collect market tolls, while in 1327 it was repeated that ‘no one should presume to buy without their licence in their markets of Burgh and Oundle.

The expansion over much of the early market place by shops and their conversion to permanent tenements took place progressively from the 11th to 17th centuries. It is conceivable that a large open area existed adjacent to the manorial/ecclesiastical focus from a very early date and that this was used for periodic exchange or simply as a green. Thus the market square may have been simply a conversion of an existing open space. Alternatively a very large market place, comparable in size to the market square in medieval Northampton, may have been laid out at the time of the conjectural 10th century re-planning. If however the market was a slightly later insertion into the village plan then it may have involved the involved the removal of existing peasant tenements, although this seems unlikely given the plan form of the double row to the west of the market place.

Both fair and market continued to be held, on a Saturday, through into the post medieval period, Leland describing the town in the mid 16th century as having ‘a very good market’. The markets continued in the 18th and 19th century, the market day being changed from Saturday to Thursday in 1825, presumably reflecting the relative decline in importance of Oundle compared particularly to Peterborough and Kettering. However, despite a relative decline the market continued to be held into the 1930s. The actual income generated by the market is very difficult to assess as different documents group together the incomes in different ways while at some times the market was leased out for a fixed sum. In 1086 the market was worth 25/- (For further details of market income see report).

The range of traders in the market was quite wide. In 1527-8 there is reference to a mercer, chandler, fishmonger, draper, barber and smith, though they might be involved in a range of transactions for these were all involved in a case relating to the illegal enhancement of grain prices in Oundle market in that year. The range of goods sold and of traders coming to Oundle is most clearly defined in 1565 when the toll of the market is said to cover all kinds of cattle, pedlars, chapmen, glovers, tanners, while the toll of grain was charged amongst the rents.

The market place appears to be in two distinct parts in plan form. The west half with the Woolmarket, corresponding to the Manor/Rectory and church division extends much further north and correlates with the long to short tenements on the south row, which also corresponds to the easternmost position of virgate tenements. To the east of this only burgage tenements and the three other fees (Churchfield, Thorpe Waterville and Rectory fees) exist, no virgate or cottage tenements. This is focussed in particular upon the north street which runs to the North Bridge which we know to be a medieval creation. This appears then to be a new block added to the town or an area which has been completely replanned in at some time before 1214-22.

Presumably this part of the town was already in existence at that time for the tenement to be granted, unless it is a former open field close?The process of encroachment on the market place was clearly well under way by 1214-22 when shops are recorded there and apparently various burgage tenements. By this date it would seem that the medieval topography of the market had been largely fixed and relatively little change seems to happen thereafter except the usual subdivision of the burgages until the late medieval period when we see a large scale conversion of stalls to shops in the Shambles and the decay of the shops and stalls in the Woolmarket, though the latter may have been underway much earlier.

By the 15th and 16th centuries and probably long before, the market place had been divided up into various specialised areas and groups of buildings.The shops and stalls which all appear to have lain in the market place at least until 1565 when all but one, in West Street, lay on or fronted onto the market. They appear to have been distributed about the market place in a similar fashion in the medieval period as in 1565.

{2}Brief synopsis of Market history

Domesday market
1202 Sunday market shifted to Saturday
1268 fair Ascension
1552 fairs S. Lawrence S. Valentine
Market continued to C20th

<1> Foard G.; Ballinger J.;, 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Oundle, Section 2.0 Topographical Development (Report). SNN102637.

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

Record last edited

Aug 22 2023 2:52PM