About

Tiverton Market boasts a beautiful Grade 11 listed Victorian pannier market building with full length glass doors.  The market is surrounded by both open and closed wooden units with plenty of space for pop-up stalls.  With many specialist traders here every week, there is so much to see and enjoy.

Regular market days include:

Mondays 09:00 - 14:00 - Second-hand Goods Market

Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays 08:30 - 16:00 - General Market

Facilities:

• Pay and Display Parking is available adjacent to the Pannier Market (off Newport Street) (standard charges apply)
• Public Conveniences including easy-access and disabled toilets available
• Ria's Cafe and Cakery for food and refreshments

Tiverton Market's Rich History

The first recorded mention of a market in Tiverton is 740AD.  There would likely have been markets held much earlier than this – as old as the Saxon (or earlier Roman) town. This means we have had a Market in Tiverton for at least 1277 years!

Different places in town held different markets:

• The Lamb Inn in Newport Street is where they sold lambs/sheep, with other livestock markets around Newport Street and St Peter Street.
• Fore Street, Gold Street and Angel Hill is where dairy products, eggs, fish, poultry and vegetables were sold
• The Boar's Head, Bampton Street (where Children’s Hospice South West is now) is where they sold pigs. 
• The Corn Market (Bampton Street - the arched section where Reapers is) was built in 1699 (and later rebuilt after a fire in 1731).

In 1825, there was a bill to clear the markets from the streets of Tiverton. No goods were to be auctioned in the streets or the market on non-market days.  Tiverton’s existing Pannier Market building was opened on 8 June 1830.

In October 1959 a Bull Ring, Cattle Shed and Stock Pens were added to Tiverton Market (where the market Car Park is now). Up until 1971 (when Tiverton Cattle Market was closed), cattle were still “driven” through the streets of town to the market.

Market Charter

The English monarchy created a system by which a new market town could not be established within a certain travelling distance of an existing one. This limit was usually a day's worth of travelling to and from the market and buying or selling goods. These distances are still law in England today.

King Henry III granted the first Market Charter to Tiverton on 28 December 1257. This gave Tiverton the legal right to hold a weekly market on a Monday and Saturday as well as yearly fairs (including the Feast of St James Charter Fayre).

Oliver Cromwell issued a second Market Charter for Tiverton on 16 November 1655. Tiverton Museum holds a copy of the original Market Charter of 1655.

The Charter says that “the market day would no longer be held on Mondays, but as today, would be held on Tuesdays to avoid the profanation of the Sabbath by traders preparing their wares which had provoked God's wrath, which manifested in the two Great Fires of 1598 and 1612”.

Market Cross

A market cross was erected in 1649 in the centre of the town in Fore Street (near Cogan’s Well), to obtain God's blessing on the trade.

The cross was also a reminder "not to defraud by cheapening". This was a warning to stop people from over-haggling with the traders otherwise, they might not return to Tiverton Market!

The Market Cross burnt down in the town fire in June of 1731. A Mr William Upcott had the Market Cross rebuilt.

Sadly, in 1783, the Market Cross was taken down by a Mr Benjamin Dickinson as it “obstructed his view of Fore Street”. Also taken down were the flesh and fish shambles in Fore Street (“shambles” is a name for meat markets).

All that remains of the Market Cross is an arch, now built into the doorway of number 27 Bampton Street (opposite the entrance to Market Walk). A replica of the Market Cross is at Tiverton Museum.

The Market Now

The Market is still central to the town of Tiverton. On General Market days, the Market receives over 2,500 visitors and is not only a place for buying and selling but is now a major tourist attraction for the town and hosts regular events including the multi award-winning Electric Nights Streetfood events.