Stow-on-the-Wold

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Map sources for Stow-on-the-Wold at grid reference SP195255

Stow-on-the-Wold, an historic English market town in the county of Gloucestershire, sits on top of an 800 ft (244 m) hill, at the convergence of a number of major roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429).

1 Location
2 History
3 Places to Visit
4 Media
5 Trivia
6 External links

[edit] Location

See map. Stow on the Wold is located in Gloucestershire, a county in South-West England. It also lies in the Cotswold Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The parish church is located at Ordnance Survey mapping six-figure grid reference SP 191258. Several roads link Stow to the surrounding villages. The Fosse Way (A429), which runs from Exeter to Lincoln; the A424, which runs from Burford, into the A44 and into Evesham; and the A436, which connects Cheltenham and Gloucester with Stow.

Although Stow itself has no train station, there is a train station in Moreton in Marsh (approx. 4 miles from Stow), which lies on the line from Hereford to London Paddington, and another in Cheltenham (approx. twenty miles). National Rail Rail Maps. The main towns around Stow on the Wold are Cheltenham and Gloucester (approx. 25 miles), but only slightly further afield are Bicester and Oxford (approx. 30 and 35 miles).

[edit] History

Stow-on-the-Wold is said to have originated as an Iron Age fort on this defensive position on a hill. Indeed, there are many sites of similar forts in the area, and Stone Age and Bronze Age burial mounds are common throughout the area. The town began to grow as a result of trade along the Fosse Way (a Roman Road). Originally the small settlement was controlled by abbots from the local abbey, and when the first weekly market was set up in 1107 by Henry I, he decreed that the proceeds go to Evesham Abbey. In 1330, Edward III set up an annual 7-day market to be held in August. This was replaced by Edward IV in 1476 with two 5-day fairs, two days before and two days after the feast of St Philip and St James in May, and similarly in October on the feast of St Edward the Confessor (the saint associated with the town). The aim of these annual fairs was to establish Stow as a place to trade, and to remedy the unpredictable passing trade. These fairs were located in the square, which is still the town centre.

As the fairs grew in fame and importance, the town grew more prosperous, and the fairs became bigger. Traders who once only dealt in livestock, now dealt in many handmade goods, and the wool trade always stayed a large part of the trade. Reportedly, 20,000 sheep changed hands at one 19th century fair. Many alleyways run between the buildings of Stow into the market square; these once were used in the herding of sheep into the square to be sold.

Nowadays, however, the Fair has changed considerably. As the wool trade declined, people began to trade in horses, and these would be sold at every Fair. This practice still continues today, although the Fair has been relocated from the Square, and is currently held in the large field towards the village of Maugersbury every May and October. It is still a very popular Fair, with the roads around Stow being blocked for many hours on the day as people visit for the day. Even in the rain, the Fair continues to draw visitors, and the field is frequently filled with traders and customers.

More recently, there has been controversy surrounding Stow Fair. The large number of visitors and traders has attracted more vendors not dealing in horses, and often they bring with them an increase in vandalism, and sometimes in the crime rate. In the past, local businesses used to profit from the increased custom. Nowadays, most pubs and shops close for 2 or 3 miles around. In the run-up to the most recent Fair, there was an enormous amount of public attention, and a debate and vote were held to decide what should be done. There are people in Stow who would like it abolished; others want it to stay unchanged; the majority, it seemed, said they would like more policing and more street cleaners, and the last Fair passed fairly well. However, the future of the Fair still remains uncertain.

Stow's chief claim to history is its role in the English Civil War. A number of fights took place around the area, the local church of St. Edward being damaged in one such skirmish. On 21 March 1646, the Royalists, commanded by Sir Jacob Astley, were defeated at Stow, with hundreds of prisoners being confined for some time in St. Edwards.

[edit] Places to Visit

The square in the middle of town is an interesting, almost Italianate, place. The focus of the town has been and remains in this spot.

St Edward's Church is in the south-eastern corner of the square.

There is a toy museum in the town.

There is a move towards highly-specialised shops for those who look beyond the main Square. Church Street has a silversmith taking on bespoke comissions while Sheep Street contains an antiquarian book store, a travel bookstore, an artisan chocolatier making chocolates on the premises, galleries, a specialist clothes shop and a lingerie shop.

[edit] Media

The town is served by regional newspapers such as the Cotswold Journal and the Wilts and Gloucester Standard. The free local newsletter Stow Times is delivered to every dwelling in Stow and some surrounding villages.

[edit] Trivia

The famously abrasive columnist and restaurant reviewer A A Gill in his 2005 book The Angry Island called Stow "catastrophically ghastly" and "the worst place in the world", resulting in an angry response from the town's mayor.