Monument record 130/7 - Brackley Market

The market place may originally have been in the area of Goose Green, in Castle End but more likely it was laid out at the foundation of the town in the position it presently occupies

{1}It is unclear when the town first acquired its market, but the absence from Domesday is likely to be genuine. The market was undoubtedly established at the same time as the New Town was laid out and was certainly in existence well before the formal market grant of 1217. Bridges suggests that the original grant may have been obtained by the Earl of Leicester in the second half of the 12th century and it was almost certainly in existence by circa 1160 when the Hospital of St. John was founded, which lay at the northern end of the market place.

Like most early markets it was initially held on a Sunday, until 1217 when it was transferred to a Wednesday. Though the market clearly flourished through into the 14th century, by the mid 16th century, according to Leland, Brackley market was ‘desolatyd’, having previously been held on a Wednesday. However it was still depicted as a town by Saxton and is in Speed’s list of market towns in 1610. Hence it seems unlikely that in the 16th century the market, though in severe decline, was ever completely disused. A thriving market was in existence in 1670 before the charter of 1668 which re-confirmed the market, fairs and the liberties of the borough. In 1686 the new charter confirmed the Wednesday market and extended it to include the sale of cattle. In the earlier 18th century the then lord also promoted trade and ‘raised the markets’ and gained another charter which confirmed the market right. By the early 19th century the market was still in trouble and so in 1803 further incentive to commerce was given by abolishing the tolls. Despite this in 1822 Baker could still report the market remained at a ‘low ebb’. It did however survive and in 1849 the Wednesday market was still functioning.

In the early 13th century the Hospital was granted an annual rent of £6/13/4d from the rents, lands, markets and fairs of the borough. In 1296 and 1314 the yearly profit acknowledged by the manor from the market and fair together was 40/- with in addition 12/- from the rent of the stalls. In 1322 the annual profit from the toll of market and fair was 44/8d, though the total toll of market and court pleas for the fair was £6/13/4d per annum. In addition there was 8/9d income from the market stalls. In 1423 the profit was 13/4d for market and fair.

The Market Place
The market place may originally have been in the area of Goose Green, in Castle End (see above) but more likely it was laid out at the foundation of the town in the position it presently occupies. This is a widening of the main street some 40m wide and over 300m long stretching along the flattest ground on the hilltop. The main market buildings including shop, stalls and market house lay at the southern end of the market place. Most of the inns, many of the alehouses and also the most important private houses seem to have fronted onto the market place in the medieval and post medieval period. Although now largely devoid of buildings and enclosures, apart from the 18th century market hall, the medieval and post medieval market place contained various enclosures, shop rows and other buildings, the last of which were not cleared away until the mid 20th century. Apart from the shops and stalls, the scale of encroachment onto the market place appears to have been very modest, unless the buildings and enclosures at the north end of the market place represent early encroachment which was no longer recognised as such in the 18th century documents. This is quite different to the pattern seen in most other market place in the county, where there is evidence which would suggest, and in the case of Oundle is clearly documented, large scale early encroachment. The shape of the market place is also very different to that of some of the other small towns in the county, where market squares were the norm.

The laying out of the market place along the main road may represent the first establishment of a market at Brackley and be an integral part of the first planning of the town. If so then it could be argued that it was in existence by the mid 12th century, because the Hospital which lies at its north east corner was founded circa 1160. However the market place need not be contemporary with the establishment of the Hospital, because the clear evidence in the stepped western frontage in 1760 indicates the market may have been a westward expansion of a pre-existing road. In this context it may be significant that the large tenement lying within the northern area of the market was not considered an encroachment in 1760 and it could be suggested that its eastern boundary represents the alignment of the original road, running the full length of the eastern side of the market, which would correspond well with the change in level seen today between the eastern and western sides of the market place. If this interpretation was correct then it is possible, though unlikely, that the Hospital could pre-date the market place, also explaining why the St James' parish, which we have suggested may relate to the establishment of the market, extends on the western side fully to the northern end of the market, while on the eastern side it only extends so far as the Hospital.

In 1314 the rent of the market stalls was 12/-. By 1322 there were 24 market stalls at a rent of 8/9d, but they included decayed rent for 7 stalls which were burnt or vacant, at 3/6d. This gives a total rent of 12/3d suggesting the 1314 value is for the same stalls and indicating a rent of 6d per stall. Though this may represent the total of stalls in the market place in the early 14th century it is possible that others are not listed because held by different tenure, as seen at Oundle. It maybe for the same reason that no value is given for the shops in the market place which are recorded in various other 13th and 14th century sources.

The Shambles
Though not specified in the medieval sources, it is likely that the shambles or butchers’ stalls and the drapery stalls, recorded in the 16th and 17th centuries, were of medieval origin. The rows of shops and stalls in the 16th and 17th centuries are likely to have been restricted to the three rows depicted in 1760. The 1760 map shows all three rows as ‘The Shambles’ located in front of the Town Hall.

However, the discussion of the butchers’ stalls in 1670 does seem to refer to just a single row of stalls. If so, then the others two rows may be the Drapery, with its 18 stalls recorded in 1586, while the other may even represent the row of shops of 1321 where iron was sold. However, given the scale of decline in Brackley during the later medieval period it seems likely that there were many more shops and stalls in the early 14th century than survived to be recorded in the post medieval.

Certainly in the 17th century licence still had to be gained for any development in the area for in 1670 an investigation was carried out to see if the Butchers stalls could be added to ‘without prejudice to the Street Fayre and markett’, and it was decided that one might be added at each end to make six but that any more would ‘stopp upp the passage in the cheife part of the street just against the towne hall’. These are presumably the Shambles of 1760.

The 'Little Market'
While the number of shops and stalls is likely to have reached a minimum in the later 14th and 15th centuries, by the 17th and 18th century new stalls and shops were certainly being constructed in response to a renewed growth of commerce in the town. For example in 1670 John Stoake ‘a mercer and shopkeeper’ asked for a parcel of ground in ‘the Little Markett place towards the Crosse to build thereon a shopp’. There was also an investigation to see if the Butchers stalls could be added to ‘without prejudice to the Street Fayre and markett’ and it was decided that one might be added at each end to make six but that any more would ‘stopp upp the passage in the cheife part of the street’. As well as the permanent shops, whether on the market place or fronting onto it, there was by the 17th century, and probably long before a specialisation of areas elsewhere within the market place. In 1670 the ‘Little Market’, the area between the shambles and the market cross, was where ‘Peddlers and other petty stalls and tilts are set up, and where garden ware Pottery Bread and butter is sold on market days’ but it was ‘of so little compasse that it cannot conteyne half the country people’.

The Market Cross
The main focus of commercial activity in the post medieval period was at the southern end of the market street where the large octagonal medieval market cross stood. It was finally demolished in 1705 to make way for the new Town Hall. The cross according to Leland was 'very antique, fair and costly' with 'dyvers tabernacles in this with ladies and men armyd' The cross stood 28ft high with an octagonall pillar with images on each side. Fragments of the cross were discovered in 1883 during the enlargement of the Town Hall.

Post-medieval market place encroachment
In addition to the island of shops within the market place, by the 16th century there were other shops at the front of tenements fronting the market place, being small encroachments upon the waste. The record of encroachments in 1588 includes a little porch and a shop with a sign and sign post by it. A number of other encroachments also included sign posts, presumably for shops on the adjacent tenements. In all there were five shops, including specific mention of a butcher’s, tailor’s and smiths’ shops amongst the encroachments.

By 1757 the number of shops representing encroachments had risen to 24 shops, of which two were said at that time to be ‘down’. These shops, apart possibly from two which probably lay in the island of encroachment north of the Shambles, were all extensions in front of tenements fronting the market place. This seems to represent a development of the later 16th, 17th and early 18th century, a quite different solution to the expansion of shops from the dedicated shop rows on the market place itself, which are likely to have been the main medieval provision. The late date of these developments does however need to be confirmed by archaeological investigation.

The concentration of recorded encroachments in the market place could reflect the need for continual control by the borough over the use of the important open space of the market. This sequence would allow the laying out of the market as late as the 1217 market charter or associated with the creation of the borough in 1235.

The old town hall
The site of the town hall before 1705 has not been established with certainty, but it was probably the building, or on the site of the building, which lay on the market place immediately north of the shambles in 1760. This can be concluded from the fact that in 1670 it was said that any extension to the shambles would ‘stopp upp the passage in the cheife part of the street just against the towne hall’. This may be the ‘greatly decayed’ building of timber and slate called in 1588 the ‘Draperie Howse’. It belonged to the lord but was then in the occupation of the mayors of Brackley. It must be the building on the island of encroachment seen in 1760 to the north of the Shambles, which was still at that time in the lord’s ownership. Buildings remained on this island in the early 19th century, the cellar of one, on the presumed site of the Draperie House, has been identified in water main trenching. Though survival potential appears to be low due the shallow depth of the natural below the road makeup, the trenching was very restricted in width and extent and further investigation of these areas is needed.

Inns
There was at least one inn on the market place at Brackley in the mid 13th century, when Roger the Goldsmith held, as a burgage, an inn which he had built, which was in front of the market stalls. This inn appears to have been built on an encroachment onto the market place, for which a 1d annual rent was payable to the lord.

{2}Synopsis of Market History

Probably in existence by 1160s.
1217 Market transferred from Sunday to Wednesday.
1330 fair St.Andrew exists
1554 two fairs
In decline in 1822 but remained in 1849.

{5} Cross was taken down in 1706

{6}"….very antique…." cross in High Street;

<1> Ballinger J.; Foard G., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Brackley, Section 3.5, 3.4 (Digital archive). SNN100499.

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

<3> Ballinger J.; Foard G., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Brackley, (unchecked) (Report). SNN106655.

<4> SHAW M., 1997, Sturdy Concrete site, south of Hinton Road, Brackley: Archaeological Desktop Study, p.2 (checked) (Report). SNN72859.

<5> Green A., 1869, The History of Brackley, (unchecked) (Uncertain). SNN9026.

<6> Hearne T., 1744, Collectanea (Leland J.), (unchecked) (Series). SNN7216.

Record last edited

Jul 21 2022 9:29AM