Stowmarket
| Stowmarket | |
|---|---|
 Eastbridge Windpump, at the Museum of East Anglian Life |
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 Stowmarket
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| Stowmarket shown within Suffolk | |
| Population | 19,280 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | TM048588 |
| • London | 89.1mi |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | STOWMARKET |
| Postcode district | IP14 |
| Dialling code | 01449 |
| Police | Suffolk |
| Fire | Suffolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Stowmarket (/ˈstoʊˌmɑːrkᵻt/) is a small market town situated in Suffolk, England, on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edmunds to the west and Ipswich to the southeast. The town is on the main railway line between London and Norwich, and lies on the River Gipping, which is joined by its tributary, the River Rat, to the south of the town.
The town takes its name from the Old English word stōw meaning ‘principal place’, and was granted a market charter in 1347 by Edward III. A bi-weekly market is still held there today on Thursday and Saturday.
The population of the town has increased from around 6,000 in 1981 to its current level of around 19,000, with considerable further development planned for the town and surrounding villages as part of an area action plan. It is the largest town in the Mid Suffolk district and is represented in parliament by the MP for Bury St Edmunds, currently Jo Churchill.
Disaster struck Stowmarket on 11 August 1871, when an explosion at a local gun cotton factory claimed twenty-four lives and left seventy five injured, the site of the explosion is now home to a large paint factory.
Just before midday on Friday 31 January 1941, a solitary German bomber plane (eyewitness accounts differ on the model) was spotted over Stowmarket firing its guns. The bomber strafed a larged area of the town, before dropping bombs onto the highstreet. The Stowmarket Congregational Chapel, a gothic style building that was built in the 19th century, was completely destroyed. There was only one casualty, Mrs Rhoda Farrow who had just returned from seeing her son Ronald and his fiancee off at the train station.
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Wikipedia