Stowmarket
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox UK place Stowmarket (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is a market town and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England,<ref name=EX211>OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. Template:ISBN</ref> on the A14 trunk road between Bury St Edmunds to the west and Ipswich to the southeast. The town lies on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) between Diss and Needham Market, and lies on the River Gipping, which is joined by its tributary, the River Rat, to the south of the town.
The town takes its name from the Old English word stōw meaning "principal place", and was granted a market charter in 1347 by Edward III. A bi-weekly market is still held there today on Thursday and Saturday.
The population of the town has increased from around 6,000 in 1981 to around 21,000 in 2021, with considerable further development planned for the town and surrounding villages as part of an area action plan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is the largest town in the Mid Suffolk district and is represented in Parliament by the MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, currently Peter Prinsley.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Historic events
Template:Wikisource/outer core{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|showblankpositional=1|unknown=|1|2|3|diagnose|has|italic|italics|lang|nocat|position|title|wislink|works|wslink}} Disaster struck Stowmarket on 11 August 1871, when an explosion at a local gun cotton factory claimed twenty-eight lives and left seventy five injured.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The site of the explosion is now home to a large paint factory.
Stowmarket High School was founded in 1909.
On 8 June 1918, the first UK astronomical observation of nova V603 Aquilae<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> was made from Stowmarket by A. Grace Cook. History repeated itself on 13 December 1934 when amateur astronomer J. P. M. Prentice discovered DQ Herculis<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> from the town.
Just before midday on Friday 31 January 1941, a solitary German bomber plane (eyewitness accounts differ on the model) was spotted over Stowmarket firing its guns.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The bomber strafed a large area of the town, before dropping bombs onto the High Street. The Stowmarket Congregational Chapel, a Gothic-style building that was built in the 19th century, was completely destroyed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There was one casualty, Mrs Rhoda Farrow, who had just returned from seeing her son Ronald and his fiancée off at the railway station.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 17 July 2002, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, visited Stowmarket during the Golden Jubilee Celebrations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This was the Queen's second visit to Stowmarket, having first visited the town in July 1961.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the visit, they visited the local market, meeting stall holders before the Queen unveiled a new Town Sign and met representatives from local organisations while the Duke of Edinburgh met students who took part in The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and viewed a display at the Museum of East Anglian Life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Landmarks
The church of St Peter and St Mary is in the Decorated style and dates to the 14th century.<ref name=C_P>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=C_L>Template:NHLE</ref> The 16th-century former vicarage, now the town council offices and register office, has associations with John Milton; Milton's Tree in its grounds is believed to be an offshoot of one of the many trees he planted there.
Haughley Park is an historical house situated in Haughley to the west of the town, of some significance, listed in the English Heritage Register. It is a large red brick country house built in about 1620 for the Sulyard family who were very prominent landowners in this area.
Opened in 1967, The Food Museum (formerly the Museum of East Anglian Life) occupies a Template:Convert site close to the town centre.
The Karnser is a raised pavement in Station Road West, next to the church. The name is the East Anglian dialect word caunsey, meaning a causey (causeway).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Transport
Stowmarket railway station, on the Great Eastern Main Line, is served by railway routes operated by Greater Anglia: Template:Rws to Template:Rws (via Template:Rws and Template:Rws); Template:Rws to Ipswich (via Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds and Template:Rws); and Template:Rws to London Liverpool Street (via Template:Rws, Ipswich, Template:Rws, Template:Rws and Template:Rws).
In the 18th century, the River Gipping was made navigable between Stowmarket and Ipswich by a series of locks. The newly created canal was known as the Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation.<ref>Template:Cite PastScape</ref>
Suffolk County Council has built a road from the Central Roundabout, a short distance to the east of Stowmarket, to Gipping Way in central Stowmarket at a cost of £21 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The scheme was completed in summer 2010. The new road bridges the railway line and the River Gipping.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>
Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia. Television signals are received from either the Sudbury or Tacolneston transmitters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Local radio stations are BBC Radio Suffolk on 103.9 FM, Heart East on 96.4 FM and Greatest Hits Radio Ipswich & Suffolk on 106.4 FM.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Stowmarket Mercury is the town's local newspaper.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Governance
Template:Infobox coat of arms Stowmarket Town Council is the first tier of local government for Stowmarket. Formed in 1974 from the Stowmarket Urban District Council, the Town Council serves a population of approximately 20,000 people in four wards. It is made up of 16 elected members backed up by a staff of over 30. The council is located in the historic Milton House.
County Councillors
| Election | Member for Stowmarket South | Party | Member for Stowmarket North & Stowupland | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Ronald Snell | Labour | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Duncan Macpherson | Labour |
| 2005 | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Keith Myers-Hewitt | Conservatives | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Eleanor Ramsey | Conservatives |
| 2009 | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Anne Whybrow | Conservatives | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Gary Green | Conservatives |
| 2013 | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Stephen Searle | UKIP | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Gary Green | Conservatives |
| 2017 | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Nick Gowrley | Conservatives | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Gary Green | Conservatives |
| 2021 | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Keith Scarff | Liberal Democrats | style="background-color: Template:Party color" | | Keith Welham | Green Party |
Sport and leisure
Stowmarket has a non-League football club, Stowmarket Town, which plays at Greens Meadow.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There is also a rugby club located at Chilton Fields, to the north of the town. Chilton fields also hosts a parkrun each Saturday morning where runners, joggers and walkers can complete a free of charge 3-lap multi-terrain 5 km course supported by volunteers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A junior parkrun takes place every Sunday morning on the Recreation Ground where 4-14 year olds can participate for free, cheered on by volunteers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A running club called Stowmarket Striders welcomes runners of all abilities to join and holds several running events each year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Stowmarket is home to a handful of gyms and also boasts its own leisure centre complete with swimming pools, climbing wall, bowls green, gym, and artificial turf football pitch.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The town has several grassroots clubs playing various sports.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Regal Theatre cinema has been in operation in the town centre for more than fifty years,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> offering films, concerts and theatre productions.
The former corn exchange underwent a £1 million refurbishment in 2012 to become a music venue, art gallery and theatre named the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It is named after the late influential DJ and broadcaster who lived in nearby Great Finborough.<ref>Template:Cite news.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Climate
Stowmarket has a maritime climate type as is typical for the bulk of the British Isles. Wattisham is the nearest official weather station, about 4 miles south-south-west of Stowmarket town centre.
The absolute maximum temperature recorded was Template:Convert<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> during the July 2022 heatwave. In an average year 11.9 days<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> will report a temperature of Template:Convert or above, with the warmest day of the year rising to Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The absolute minimum temperature is Template:Convert,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> set in January 1979, although given online records only date back to 1959; it is likely the winter of 1947 saw lower temperatures. In an average year, 41.9<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> air frosts can be expected.
Sunshine, averaging over 1,720 hours<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a year, is amongst the highest for inland areas of Britain. Annual rainfall totals average below 625mm, with over 1mm of rain falling on 117 days.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Averages refer to a mix of the 1971–2000 and 1991-2020 observation periods.
Stowmarket today
Stowmarket has held an annual carnival for over sixty years, with 2023 being celebrated as the 60th. The main event is held in the recreation park<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> featuring a funfair, a procession through the town and local entertainment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The procession starts at Meadlands Social Club and travels via Combs Ford, Ipswich Road, The Regal, Ipswich Street, Market Place, Tavern Street and Finborough Road, ending in Recreation Road. For the first time in many years, Stowmarket Carnival was free to attend in 2023, making it accessible to all. Stowmarket Carnival is run by a team of volunteers.
Stowmarket also plays host to the Stow-Fest music festival, a live music open air event that takes place annually at Chilton Fields in the north of Stowmarket.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since 2010 the town has hosted the Stowblues Festival, organised in partnership with BBC Radio Suffolk.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Mix is located on Ipswich Street and is a flagship youth and community centre in Suffolk.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
Notable residents
The poet John Milton made regular visits to the town as his tutor, Dr Thomas Young, became vicar of Stowmarket in 1628.<ref>Paine, C. St Peter and St Mary's Church, Stowmarket, Official Church Guide, St Peter and St Mary's Church, Stowmarket</ref>
Other notable residents included political writer William Godwin, who spent time as minister at the Stowmarket Independent Church; and singer / West End actress, Kerry Ellis, who was brought up in the nearby village of Haughley and attended Stowmarket High School. Delia Smith also resides nearby in Combs. Stowmarket has produced professional footballers, James Scowcroft, who played for the local junior sides and Ipswich Town, among others. Professional wrestler Neil Faith has lived in Stowmarket. Sally Eastall, who competed in the 1992 Olympics marathon, was born in Stowmarket. The poet George Crabbe went to school in the town. The amateur astronomers A. Grace Cook and J. P. M. Prentice<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> lived in the town. Gareth Snell, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, is from Stowmarket.
Murder victim Matthew Pyke grew up in Stowmarket.Template:Citation needed
In popular culture
Host Planet Earth, by Colin Cooper,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is largely set around a fictional rocket launch site near Stowmarket.
See also
- Stowmarket (Central) Ward
- Stowmarket (North) Ward
- Stowmarket (South) Ward
- Stowmarket (UK Parliament constituency)
- Stowmarket by-election, 1891
- Stowmarket Guncotton Explosion
- Stowmarket High School
- Stowmarket railway station
- Stowmarket Town F.C.
- Church of St Peter and St Mary, Stowmarket
- Ipswich & Stowmarket Navigation
References
External links
Template:Wikivoyage Template:Commons category
- Stowmarket Town Council
- Stowmarket Area Guide
- Stowmarket History and Heritage
- Stowmarket Flyer (Local News – Printed Monthly and Online
- Stowmarket Sport (Grassroots coverage of sports, clubs and teams in a three-mile radius of Stowmarket)
- Stowmarket Church (St. Peter and St. Mary Stowmarket)
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