Nostalgia special: Ormskirk Market
ORMSKIRK Market Charter was granted in 1286 by the Plantagenet King Edward I and his younger brother Edmund Earl of Lancaster to the Canons of Burscough Priory.
Like other Lancashire market towns, namely Burnley, Chorley, Clitheroe, Darwen, Garstang and Poulton le Fylde, Ormskirk held weekly markets, bringing traders and buyers into the town from a large area.
Ormskirk is one of the few towns in Lancashire to have continued the historical tradition of the outdoor market.
Most markets are now indoor and other towns, like Garstang, allowed the market to lapse and for many years its charter was not utilised.
For centuries it was the local products which sold on the market, fresh locally grown farm produce and locally reared poultry and livestock.
As in other market towns, fish stones were sited near the main market place, used for displaying and selling a fresh catch.
The produce was inspected for freshness, the weights and measures were always tested and anyone caught under weighing was banished from trading.
Market tolls were set and not always agreed with, avoiding paying a market toll was an offence which could lead to court.
Local retailers during the 19th century would take their weekly market stall to increase trade and take a share in the success of the markets.
Auctioneers, commissioned to sell bankrupt stock or damaged produce from Liverpool warehouses, would set up on a run of stalls across from the Golden Lion, advertising the “one time only” sales in the local paper.
Over the decades, the products offered on the stalls grew in variety. Traders became more mobile and were able to work several of the county markets in a week, which moved away from the local producers bringing in their goods.
The swelling of the population of the town on a market day was such that local businesses throughout the town, from pubs to bus companies, from sweet shops to shoe shops, all shared in the influx of shoppers and browsers.
The size of the market has varied over the centuries, the location and layout has changed slightly, more so since the change to a pedestrianised town centre.
Street markets are huge tourist draws when we travel abroad, indeed many people travel specifically for the Prague markets, the Belgian Markets, the products on offer being the biggest attraction. Seasonal markets are increasingly popular.
But Ormskirk can maintain the title of Historic Market Town with the right focus on product and customer.