Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for STOWMARKET

STOWMARKET, a town, a parish, and a sub-district, in Stow district, Suffolk. The town stands on the river Gipping, and on the Eastern Union railway, 12 miles NW by N of Ipswich; had two churches at Domesday; was given by Henry II. to Osyth abbey; was once the county town; is now a seat of petty session and county courts, and a polling place; comprises several well built old streets, and several new ones; and has a head post-office,‡ a r. station with telegraph, two banking offices, two good hotels, a corn exchange and assembly-rooms built in 1836, an early and decorated English church restored in 1865, an Independent chapel in the decorated English style built in 1862, four other dissenting churches, a new cemetery with two handsome chapels, a mechanics' institute, national and British schools, and charities £303. A weekly market is held on Thursday; a cattle-show, in Sept.; a horticultural show, in July; and fairs, on 10 July and 12 Aug. A considerable transit traffic is carried on; and there are an iron foundry, an agricultural implement manufactory, a large chemical manure manufactory, and extensive paper-making works. Pop. in 1851, 3,161; in 1861, 3,531. Houses, 749.—The parish includes Gipping hamlet, and comprises 2,177 acres. Real property, £14,724. Pop. in 1851, 3,404; in 1861, 3,639. Houses, 772. The manor belongs to J. F. Robinson, Esq. Abbotts Hall occupies the site of the abbot of St. Osyth's grange; and is the seat of W. Prentice, Esq. The living is a vicarage, united with Stow-Upland, in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £380.* Patrons, the Representatives of the late Rev. A. G. H. Hollingsworth. Dr. Young, the tutor of Milton, was vicar.—The sub-district contains 9 parishes. Acres, 16,577. Pop., 8,367. Houses, 1,789.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Stowmarket AP/CP       Stowmarket SubD       Stow RegD/PLU       Suffolk AncC
Place: Stowmarket

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