Royston Market in 1916 or 1919

Royston formerly had two market places: one along High Street/King Street and Kneesworth Street, a second between Fish Hill and Market Hill. The market was held mainly in the second by the nineteenth century. The produce on sale looks like food for livestock: hay and mangelwurzels (beets).
During the Middle Ages, the Augustinian Priory controlled fairs and markets in the growing community. It was responsible for creating a second market place at Fish Hill and Market Hill, perhaps in 1224. It lay entirely within the parish of Barkway, as did the Priory: this was a way of keeping profits for the church. This formerly open space at the south end of the second market place is now the site of a Tesco Express.

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