I've always been impressed with markets, when they have to close a road to accomodate it! On Wednesdays Market Drayton changes it's name to Drayton Market (there's also a smaller market on Saturdays). The town's marketplace is ancient, with a market charter granted from 1246. I love the Buttercross market shelter, which replaced an actual cross in 1823.
If you visit Market Drayton Museum and Resource Centre you can buy a leaflet on the Market Drayton Historic Food Trail ( or download it here). In the 1850s the town was famous for it's damson fairs. In those days textile makers from the north would buy the damsons to make dye for their cloth. You can of course eat damsons (they make an excellent jam). You can drink them as wine. When I was in Young Farmers everyone in South Shropshire seemed to make damson wine (which tastes almost like port) or damson gin. According to the trail leaflet, the King of Nepal, hosting a banquet in London, sent to Market Drayton for 2 cwts (100 kgs) of the fruit for a favourite recipe of lamb with a particular damson chutney!
Robert Clive (or Clive of India) was born at Styche Manor near Market Drayton. Apparently he gave his recipe for Petits Pâtés (small pies which are a relic of the medieval mince pie) to the people of Pézenas in the south of France. The French still bake these pies (over 250,000 per year), but I couldn't find any in Market Drayton. The lady in the museum told me she still makes them (they contain minced mutton with apple and chutney). Oliver Cromwell banned mince pies and when they were subsequently reintroduced people stopped putting meat into the mincemeat!
Market Drayton is of course famous for its gingerbread. If you're interested in Market Drayton food history, there's a book Under the Buttercross: Market Drayton, a Town of Good Food written by Meg Pybus. I'll cover some of the excellent shops in the area in subsequent posts.
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