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This is part of a Market Traders’ Report produced in 2005-6 for
The Town Centre Commission.
Northampton & Markets - Brief Historical Background
Section One - 1189 to 20th Century
The first record of Northampton's charters appears in 1189, when King Richard 1st, looking for money for his crusades, granted a charter giving the Town particular administrative rights. Amongst these was the right to elect a mayor.
Northampton's Market Square, one of the largest in England, dates from 1235 when the selling of goods - including livestock - in the All Saints churchyard was stopped by King Henry III, and transferred to the Square. Livestock continued to be sold in the market until 1873, when a purpose-built cattle market opened.
In 1265 Northampton University was dissolved by Henry 111, having only been in existence for a few years, from circa 1261. This was supposedly because Northampton University posed a threat to Oxford and Cambridge.
It may also have been because the students had sided with Simon de Montfort and his barons against the King.
1675 brought the Great Fire of Northampton, which devastated the town centre, including All Saints church, destroying about 600 buildings in 6 hours. Three quarters of the town was destroyed, about 700 families were made homeless, and 11 people were killed.
Some £25,000 was raised by local business people - a huge sum at that time - for rebuilding the town centre around the Market Square, which was the centre of trade and commerce in those days, there being few private shops in the town. New streets were built wider than before, against the possibility of another fire. The King (Charles 11) is said to have donated 1000 tons of timber towards the rebuilding of Northampton.
In 1724 Daniel Defoe described Northampton as the "handsomest and best built town in all this part of England…..finely rebuilt with brick and stone, and the streets made spacious and wide".
1815 saw the opening of the Blisworth to Northampton branch of the Grand Union Canal, giving much easier access to the coalfields of the Midlands, and facilitating trade of raw materials into a growing Northampton, and the output of finished goods, mostly boots and shoes, for there were more than 1000 shoemakers in the town at that time.
There was electoral reform in 1835, and for the first time councillors were elected to represent wards. Amongst their duties were the administration of civil law and order, and markets. At this time the general markets were held about once a week, with almost anything movable being sold, including livestock of all kinds, which were sold in the surrounding streets. This is how Marefair, Sheep Street, and Horsemarket got their names. Larger and special markets and seasonal fairs would be held at less frequent intervals.
Only ten years later in 1845 the first railway station opened, thereby increasing the opportunities for trade and communication. This station was situated at the lower end of Bridge Street, in what was known as Cotton End.
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From about this time onwards there was a rapid expansion of factory-building in the town, as manufacturers saw the opportunity to use the skills of hundreds of workers who had previously only worked at home, or in small workshops and outhouses. With new mass-production methods, these workers were able to turn out shoes at a much faster and cheaper rate than in days gone by. Factory-owners built many rows of terraced housing for their workforce, much of it very close to the centre of the town. Most of these workers used the market as their main shopping centre, although corner shops in terraced areas, and better-class shops in the town centre, were becoming more prevalent.
In1851 the Corn Exchange opened at the top of the Market Square. Although mainly used for the marketing of corn - under cover now instead of out on the Market Square - it was also used for concerts, balls, and public meetings, etc.
1863 saw a Fountain erected on the Market Square to commemorate the marriage of the Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The following year (1864) the poet John Clare died in Northampton Asylum off the Billing Road (now St. Andrew’s Hospital). Also in this year the old Town Hall at the corner of Abington Street and Wood Hill was demolished, and the present Guildhall was built in the pseudo-Gothic style highly favoured at that time.
In 1873 at last a purpose-built Cattle Market on Victoria Promenade opened, removing from the Town Centre the livestock portion of the market, leaving behind a much-reduced general market, which would continue to grow over the years ahead.
The Market Square, under the terms of one charter, becomes a forum for political discussion and free speech after 6.30 pm. It was used for this on many occasions in the past, particularly on the run-up to local and national elections. In 1874 there was a riot on the Market Square, provoked by a parliamentary election campaign involving Charles Bradlaugh, a radical atheist. Eventually the mayor read the Riot Act, but the rioters took little notice, and did not disperse until troops arrived and fired into the air.
In 1880 Bradlaugh was elected as an MP. Between 1880 and 1886 Bradlaugh fought for the right of unbelievers to sit in the House of Commons, and he was the first atheist to become an MP. His Act of 1888 established the legal right to affirm the Parliamentary oath rather than swearing the oath on a bible. Bradlaugh was MP for Northampton from 1880-1891. One of the most controversial public figures of the late nineteenth century, Charles Bradlaugh championed unpopular causes like birth control, republicanism, atheism, reform, peace and anti-imperialism. His views placed him in conflict with powerful interests, institutions and people, but most of his arguments have since been vindicated.
1879 saw most of the remains of NorthamptonCastle disappear when the Castle Railway Station was enlarged, no doubt to the detriment of the Tourist Trade in present times.
By 1901 the Emporium Arcade was built at the top of the Market Square to house dozens of small businesses, forming a kind of indoor market of its own, complementing the Open Market outside.
The Emporium Arcade was an undoubted draw to visitors as well as the many local people who lived within a few streets of the Market Square, and continued right into the 1970's before being demolished. Had it been kept and carefully restored, it would no doubt have continued to provide an attraction to modern-day tourists.
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Northampton & Markets - Brief Historical Background
Section Two - Early 20th Century to Present-day.
There were few notable changes to the Open Market and the Market Square from the beginning of the 20th century up to the 2nd World War. On days when there was no market the Square was used as a general parking space for vehicles of all kinds, although in those days the Town was glad to see visitors, and there were no parking charges. On Sundays in the summertime in the period between the World Wars, local bus companies would run tours and trips from the Market Square, and this tradition continued well into the 1950's.
Early in the 20th century electric trams were introduced, a modern replacement for the horse-drawn trams which had run since 1881. At about this time horse racing at the Racecourse was abandoned after a series of accidents, and it was eventually given to the town as a public park. Even today it is referred to as 'The Racecourse' locally, rather than The Racecourse Park. By the end of 1905 the Co-operative Society had opened a building in Abington Street, and Northamptonshire County Cricket Club had entered first-class cricket.
The Corn Exchange on the Market Square was converted into a cinema (The Exchange) in 1920, some of its previous functions having gradually transferred to the Cattle Market buildings.
In 1930 the Market Square fountain was renovated, and four hanging lamps became part of its attraction. Markets continued to be held on the Square before, through, and after the 2nd World War. Arrangements for stallholders were open to some abuse in those days, and Frank Brierley, who was to become a local entrepreneur, recalled sleeping on his stall some Friday nights, so as to have first claim on it for the big Saturday market!
In 1960 another of Northampton's Town Centre historical attractions was demolished; the ancient coaching inn called the Peacock Hotel, built circa 1456. In the same year the New Theatre in Abington Street was demolished, to be replaced by a supermarket. This year also saw extensive one-way streets assigned, and prohibited parking introduced to the Town Centre. In 1962 the Market Square fountain was demolished, although the base pedestal remained until the early 1970's.
1964 saw Central Government publish a "South East Study", selecting Northampton as one of 4 major expansion areas. This was to be the beginning of the end of Northampton as a market town.
In 1968 Northampton was officially designated as a "New Town". A Development Corporation was set up to substantially redevelop the town in partnership with local council. Expansion was to be mainly to the east and the south to accommodate new residents, mainly from the London area.
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From 1970 onwards Town expansion started with road-widening; new road building; the clearance of some areas designated as slums; and the influx of new and varied commerce and light industry.
The old Bridge Street railway station was demolished.
Barclaycard House, a massive office block in Marefair, was completed. This actually helped the town centre and markets trade, because in reasonable weather scores if not hundreds of its office-workers would stroll into the town centre during their lunch break to do some shopping.
By 1972 the planning proposals for the new eastern developments were approved, and the population rose to over 133,000. Big changes in the Town Centre saw the old Emporium Arcade at the top (North Side) of the Market Square demolished, despite many strong local protests. Northampton had lost yet another Town Centre attraction. Most of Newland, a terraced area north of the Market Square, was also demolished, including the old Temperance Hall, a cinema known locally as 'The Fleapit'. With the destruction of these many terraced houses went thousands of the market's local customers, who had lived near enough to walk and shop easily.
By 1974 planning proposals for the southern developments were approved. The Odeon cinema at the top of the Market Square, formerly the Exchange, was closed and changed to a bingo hall.
On the burgeoning Eastern District, the Weston Favell Shopping Centre opened. Building in the old Newland area was progressing at a feverish pace, and in 1975 the Grosvenor Shopping Centre was opened, changing dramatically the north-east aspect of the Market Square. A year later the Derngate bus station was closed and the new Greyfriars bus station opened. Cunningly, the latter was designed to disgorge its passengers into the Grosvenor Shopping Centre, not into the shopping streets of the town, as the Derngate had done.
In 1979 another of the more notable buildings in the Town Centre was demolished; this time it was the Notre Dame High School in Abington Street which might have made an excellent public building. It was replaced by nondescript shops and offices. St Edmund's Church, on the Wellingborough Road coming into the centre of the town, a Victorian church built in local sandstone, was also demolished.
By the end of 1985 the Northampton Development Corporation was wound up by the national government, having added 20,000 dwellings, 40,000 inhabitants and over 200 companies. By this time the population was around 168,000, and climbing.
The markets in Northampton continued to be busy, and the Market Square had its market area expanded to cover the whole square inside the perimeter roadway. The number of market days had been expanded too, from Wednesday, Friday and Saturday to Tuesday and Thursday as well. This was partly in response to a need for Northampton Borough Council (NBC), in common with many local councils, to seek additional income, under restraints imposed by the then national government, which are still in force today (2007). In the late 1980's and early 1990's NBC was taking around £1,000,000 per annum in rents from market stallholders, and very little of this was ever invested in promoting the future of the marketplace. From this point on the rent take would gradually go down.
In 1988 the Peacock Place shopping arcade opened on the east side of the Market Square, but the upper level of shops was never fully occupied, and trade for the rest never brisk. Shops came and went quite often, and frequently empty shops were available even on the lower level.
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In the year 2000 the 'TOPPS' traffic warden scheme was introduced. At the same time Town Centre parking fees were again increased, driving more shoppers out of town. The markets and the shops again suffered a further gradual drop in trade. The number of empty shops and short-lease shops again increased, and more stalls became vacant on the market.
2002 saw the All Saints Piazza opened in front of the Town Centre All Saints Church. This area has rarely been used since for any civic functions, events, or outdoor exhibitions of any kind. By this time the market itself had begun to seriously decline, and the Market Hall, built in the 1930's, was already being considered for eventual closure. The years since the late 1980's had seen several shopping centres and retail parks built around the perimeter of the town, all with free parking, while the Town Centre continued to increase its parking fees and restrictions. All shops in the Town Centre continued to feel the effect of this policy, not just the markets. By 2005 many big-name stores in the Town Centre had packed and gone.
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In 2007 the new council, with the help of the West Northants Development Corporation, aims to once again make the Town Centre a prime shopping area. Approach streets from the rail station to the centre of the town are to be pedestrianised into shopping precincts, and renovations and rebuilding along these streets is due to be carried out. Northampton Town Centre faces great changes in the next few years, some of which will inevitably affect the market.
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