The Chronology of Market Drayton

1245: Grant of Market Charter by Henry III to the Abbey of Combermere, which then owned the Manor of Drayton.

1280: The Abbot of Combermere and his men defended the church 'like a castle' against the Archbishop of Canturbury and the Baron of Wem.

1331: Charter powers expanded.

1349,1361 and 1369: Outbreaks of Black Death in England, which halved the population.

1459: Battle of Blore Heath (22 September).

1476: Stone bridge built at Shifford.

1538: Dissolution of Combermere Abbey. The Manor of Drayton seized by the Crown. First stone bridge at Walkmill.

1545: Sir Rowland Hill buys the Manor of Drayton from the Crown.

1550: Confirmation obtained of original charter of 1245 for a market and fair. Walkmill used for fulling cloth.

1555: Market Drayton Grammar School founded by Sir Rowland Hill.

1559: Commencement of Drayton's surviving Court Rolls.

1560: Construction of Drayton's first Market House.

1562: Lordship of Manor of Drayton passes to Corbet of Adderley.

1580: Commencement of Drayton Parish Register.

1601: Poor Law Act gives responsibility for care of poor to parishes to be financed by a Poor Rate.

1642-6, 1648 and 1651: The Civil War. Minor skirmishes in and around Drayton.

1650: Five deaths from plague in Drayton.

1651: The Great Fire of Drayton which destroyed most of the town centre. (10 August)

1681: Fifteen deaths from smallpox.

1699: Eleven deaths from smallpox.

1725: Birth of Robert Clive ('Clive of India') at Styche Hall. (29 September)

1728-30: 383 deaths from influenza in parish.

1730: The will of Richard Price, vicar of Drayton, left funds for the creation of Drayton's first workhouse.

1760: Turnpike Act for the Newport-Whitchurch road (A41).

1767: Turnpike Act for the Hinstock-Nantwich road (A529).

1768: Turnpike Act for the Shrewsbury-Newcastle road (A53) with tollgates at Betton Road and near the junction with the future Bentleys Road.

1769: Shifford's bridge rebuilt.

1774: The parish purchases its first horse-drawn fire engine. Enclosure of Tyrley Heath, Blore Heath and Sutton Heath. Robert Clive buried at Moreton Say church.

1778: Opening of Congregationalist chapel in Church Street. This was Drayton's first non-conformist chapel. Now converted into flats.

1783: Walkmill bridge rebuilt.

1788: Enlargement of the Workhouse.

1790: Fire engine house opened in Church Street.

1791: Berrisford bridge built.

1792: Drayton & Shropshire Bank opened.

1794: Buntingsdale bridge built. Drayton Fencible Cavalry formed.

1801: First National Census records the population of the parish as 3,743 persons.

1807: The first Wesleyan chapel opens. The building still stands.

1814: Market Drayton Book Society formed. This is still active.

1815: Opening of Baptist chapel. The police station now stands on the site.

1817: Drayton' s National School commenced in rented property.

1824: Completion of Buttercross.

1825: Opening of the first Primitive Methodist chapel in an alley between Cheshire Street and Frogmore Road. The alley was known as Ranter's Gullet, owing to the Primitive Methodist's perceived style of preaching.

1833-56: James Lee was vicar of St Mary's. He was responsible for the reform of the Poor Law administration, for the founding of the purpose-built National Schools in Mount Lane and Little Drayton and for the creation of the parish of Christchurch, Little Drayton from part of the parish of St Mary. He was also master of the Grammar School from 1837-1848.

1835: Opening of the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal and Drayton Wharf. Opening of Mount Lane National School.

1836: Foundation of the Drayton Poor Law Union of twelve parishes. Thomas Twemlow was Chairman and James Lee was Vice Chairman.

1838: Demolition of the vicarage outside the west door of the church and building what is now the Old Vicarage in Church Street. This move enabled the graveyard to be exended to include the site of the former vicarage and its garden. Tithe Map and Schedule prepared for the parish of St Mary, Drayton.

1839: Under the direction of the Reverend James Lee, the workhouse was enlarged to increase its capacity to one hundred persons.

1841-7: Congregational school in Beech Tree House, Shropshire Street.

1842: Opening of A W Gower's iron foundry and agricultural implement maker's factory, in Stafford Street; it survived until 1941.

1843: Publication of Malabar's large-scale map of Drayton, showing property ownership.

1847: Consecration of Christchurch, Little Drayton.

1848: Little Drayton became a separate parish independent of St Mary's, Drayton. Foundation of Drayton Sanitary Committee to take responsibility for future town drainage. This made virtually no progress because of great opposition to the increase of rates to pay for the new works.

1850: Opening of Drayton's gas works. Inauguration of County Court in Cheshire Street.

1850s: Opening of Rodenhurst's Iron Foundry in Cheshire Street. The firm employed about 100 hands and survived until 1926.

1851: Enclosure of Little Drayton Common which created sites for a recreation ground, allotments, the National School, the new workhouse and several new roads. It was a trigger to the growth of Little Drayton. The National Religious Census recorded that there were 4,026 church or chapel attendances on 30th March out of a population of 4,947.

1852: Erection of the Shambles, a purpose-built butchers' market hall at the bottom of Shropshire Street.

1854: Inauguration of Quarry House, a purpose-built large workhouse on Little Drayton Common.

1861: Opening of the Crystal Fountain Brewery in Cheshire Street. This was the fIrst large and independent brewery in the town.

1863: The railway from Drayton to Nantwich was opened.

1865: Public riot in reaction to plans to raise rates to pay for town drainage. The Police failed to quell the riot and troops were subsequently brought to the town by train from Manchester, by which time the town was quiet again. The Market Drayton Cattle Market Company was formed and bought out the financial interest of the Corbet Estate in the sale of animals.

1866: Opening of the second Wesleyan chapel, which was a replacement to that opened in 1807.

1867: Opening of the second Primitive Methodist chapel in Frogmore Road. This was a replacement of the chapel built in Ranter's Gullet. This building is now the Festival Drayton Centre. The railway between Wellington and Market Drayton was opened.

1870: The railway between Stoke, Newcastle and Market Drayton was opened.

1870-90: A Wesleyan Methodist day school was held in the original Wesleyan chapel.

1871: The Maer Lane Cattle Market was opened on a site adjacent to the railway station. This took the trade in animals away from the town centre streets.

1871-1905: A girls boarding school functioned at Rylands House, Great Hales Street.

1872: Drayton Union created.

1878: Shropshire's first cheese factory opened at Tern Hill.

1879-84: Major reconstruction of the foundations of St Mary's church, necessitating closure of the building.

1882: Inauguration of Emmanuel church in the Burgage. This was a low Anglican church built as an alternative to the high Anglican church that St Mary's had become.

1884: The Phoenix Clothing factory commenced production on a site adjacent to the tanyard.

1885: The Drayton Court Leet, which was a feudal survival, assumed responsibility for naming new streets in the town, or giving names to existing streets. The Burgage, Prospect Road and New Street (later Victoria Road) acquired their names by this means.

1885-1909: A private day and boarding school functioned at Beech Tree House, Shropshire Street.

1886: The Roman Catholic church of Saints Thomas of Aquinas and Stephen Harding was opened.

1889: Salop County Council was inaugurated and assumed responsibility for policing, highways and education.

1890: The Maypole Dairy Company opened a butter factory in Stafford Street.

1892: The commencement of the town's first piped water supply which came from Burntwood near Loggerheads.

1895: Inauguration of the Drayton Rural District Council, which among other duties, assumed responsibility for drainage.

1899: Completion of the Crown Brewery in Cheshire Street. This building, which is now listed, is a worthy monument to Drayton's past industry.

1900: Opening of W Rogers steam powered roller corn mill, now converted into apartments.

1902: Opening of Drayton's electricity generating station sited near the former tanyard.

1907: Opening of the Parish Rooms in Church Street.

1908: Final meeting of the Court Leet, which no longer had any function.

1909: The Grammar School, which had opened in 1555, was finally closed by the County Council.

1910: A new County Grammar School opened on the Mountfields. The school was closed and the buildings demolished in 1997.

1914: Market Drayton Urban District Council was created. This at last gave the town responsibility for its own affairs. Betton transferred to Norton in Hales parish; Longslow to Moreton Say parish. Sutton upon Tern parish created by the transfer of Sutton and Woodseaves from Drayton-in-Hales parish. Alexandra Road School opened. This was the first County Council all age school in the town.

1921: Market Drayton Urban District Council bought the rights to the street market from the Corbet Estate.

1953: Market Drayton Urban District Council bought the cattle market from the Market Drayton Cattle Market Company.

1956: Passenger service from Market Drayton to Stoke withdrawn.

1957: The former National School in Mount Lane, which had been taken over by the County Council, was closed after 122 years of use.

1958: The Grove School was opened as a secondary comprehensive school using the l8th century Grove House as its nucleus.

1962: Gas works ceased production.

1963: Passenger service from Wellington via Market Drayton to Nantwich withdrawn.

1966: Market Drayton UDC and Drayton RDC combined to form Market Drayton RDC; Market Drayton Town Council created with parish council powers for the town area.

1967: Freight services through Market Drayton ceased; railway closed.

1974: Opening of new Library, Magistrates' Court and Medical Centre on site of Royal Oak inn and brewery. Market Drayton RDC abolished; incorporated within North Shropshire District Council.

1984: The second Wesleyan Methodist chapel was destroyed in a storm. The building has been replaced.

1993: A new Cattle Market opened near to Adderley Road.

[Compiled by Dr David Jenkins, 2005, with subsequent additions by others]