Old Market Place, Sudbury glass plaque

This glass commemorative plaque records: Old Market Place From as early as the 12th century there was a town market here. By 1340 there was as many as 102 stalls, although later the Black Death reduced the population and market by nearly half. This primitive map of 1714 shows the Butter Cross where dairy products were kept cool: the Cage, where miscreants were locked up: and Poultry Hill where chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese were sold. The Shambles was the butchers' market, shoemakers and leather workers occupied Shoemakers Hall and Tanners Row (now King Street). Processing leather was an important industry in Sudbury. The bustling crowds that visited the stalls were kept refreshed at numerous inns and ale houses. From Sudbury Court Records, 1568: ... Pigs, dogs and rats nose among the offal and other waste from slaughering, thrown onto the ground around the Butchers Shambles. All the butchers here were reported to the Borough Court - for casting horns in the highwaye ...

Old Market Place was a central hub of Sudbury's economic activity since at least the 12th century, featuring diverse markets and industries including leather processing; it reflects the town’s medieval commercial importance and daily life.