Market Square

1 Northampton's Market Square - one of the largest in England - dates from 1235 when the selling of goods in the All Saints churchyard was stopped by King Henry III.
2 Livestock was sold in the market until 1873 when the purpose-built cattle market was opened.
3 There are tunnels under the market square.
4 Elaborate buildings once surrounded all of the market square but in the 1970s, despite protests, the Peacock Hotel (dating from 1676) and the Emporium Arcade (1901) were bulldozed and replaced by modern buildings. And an ornate Victorian fountain placed in the middle of the market in 1863 was removed in 1962 because of persistent vandalism.
5 At the annual St Crispin Street Fair, the market square is home to the white-knuckle rides.