- Main
-
Related Webpages
- Reconstruction and interactive maps of Shrewsbury c1630
- Topography of Tudor Shrewsbury in depth
- Markets and Trade in Tudor Shrewsbury in depth Part 1
- Markets and Trade in Tudor Shrewsbury in depth Part 2
- Augustinian Friary, Shrewsbury
- The High Cross, Shrewsbury
- Shearmen's Hall, Shrewsbury
- Drapers' Hall, Shrewsbury
- Fellmongers' Hall, Shrewsbury
- Market Hall, Shrewsbury
- Rowley's Mansion, Hill's Lane, Shrewsbury
- Abbot's House, Butcher Row, Shrewsbury
- Worrall's House, Frankwell, Shrewsbury
- Pride Hill Chambers, Shrewsbury
- Perche's Mansion Windsor Place, Shrewsbury
- Tudor and Stuart Shrewsbury: An interactive map resource for schools
To expand and collapse the navigation please click on the headings
Go to other Related Subject areas
Markets and Trade in Tudor Shrewsbury
The road approaching the English, or Stone, Bridge was being worn away by market traffic.
There was increased trade in the period, so much so that there were complaints from the people of Coleham and Abbey Foregate that the road approaching the Stone Bridge was being worn away by the numbers of country folk travelling to Shrewsbury’s markets.
Mardol Quay was built in 1606 to cater for increasing trade up and down the River Severn.
A growing trade along the River Severn to Bristol and towns between led to the building of quays at Mardol (1606) and Frankwell (1608). Goods included wool, cheese and leather going downstream and wine, iron and coal coming upstream.
This yard was the centre of William Rowley's brewing business. The brewhouse was on the left and there is a loading bay on the right. (image courtesy of Shrewsbury Museums Service and www.darwincountry.org.uk)
The main trade in the period was in Welsh cloth. The town’s merchants bought it in Oswestry and Welshpool, finished it to a high standard in Shrewsbury and then sold it to dealers elsewhere. The Draper’s Guild was the most powerful in the town, but there were also Guilds for Bakers, Mercers, Shearmen, Glovers, Tanners and Smiths and others. Two other trades that did well in Tudor times were the tanning and brewing industries. William Rowley was the most important brewer in the town and his business took up much of the area between Barker Street and Hills Lane. There were complaints about his wagons damaging the Cripple Gate on their way to Mardol Quay.
Although this image dates from 1860s the apple market would have looked much the same in Tudor times. (image courtesy of Shrewsbury Museums Service and www.darwincountry.org)
Shrewsbury held several markets; woollen cloth was displayed in the Market Hall in The Cornmarket, now The Square; livestock and horses in Frankwell and Abbey Foregate. Around the High Cross was sold butter, cheese, pigs and poultry, whilst fruit and vegetables were sold at the apple market in The Cornmarket. Fish was bought from Fish Street, meat from Butcher Row and Pride Hill.
Trade occasionally suffered especially at times of poor harvest or outbreaks of the Plague, when markets and fairs were cancelled to prevent the disease spreading.