Market towns grew in importance during the Tudor and Stuart period. To ensure that everything in the markets ran smoothly, market officials were needed.

English Market towns and “markets”- Shopping in England has, of course, changed since the Tudor and Stuart era. But chartered market towns still bear the signs of their past.

Here is a fun way to create your own Tudor market stall! You will only need a few supplies.

London was the biggest city in England, and getting everyone fed was a complex business! We often have modern conveniences that make storing food easier, like freezers and refrigerators. But if you were a Londoner in the Elizabethan era, you would have needed to go to the market often to procure fresh food.

The market town of Bolton lay about 6 miles from Agecroft Hall. Beginning as a small village in the Middle Ages, Bolton grew larger and more important.

The term “Market Town” might give you the idea that these were small cities that focused on limited trade. But many of England’s largest cities developed as market towns.

Agecroft Hall originally sat in Lancashire, in the north-west of England in the area of Salford Hundred (similar to a county in one of the United States). Today this is part of the region known as Greater Manchester.