The origins of the name are quite
obvious but it is unclear quite when its use as a
market place started. The market probably owed its
origins to St Martin’s Fair, an annual event established
about 1160 in the market place. The church of
St
Martin-le-Grand stood on the western side of the
Market Square.
On the northern side of the
Market Square another church once stood, on the site
now occupied by Lloyds Bank. There is no drawing or
description to indicate what St Peter’s Church looked
like but some stonework , discovered during the building
of Lloyds Bank, suggests that it dated from the 11th
Century. It was the official church of the Mayor and
Corporation, and from 1367 until 1581 members of Parliament
and Mayors of Dover were elected there. From its tower
the curfew bell was rung and many of the leading citizens
of Dover were buried in the chancel, the last recorded
being in 1572.
In 1581 St Peter’s had so fallen into disrepair that
it could no longer be used and the Corporation moved
to
St Mary’s Church.
Not long after this
Queen
Elizabeth I made a grant of St Peter’s to the
Corporation, to be sold to raise money for the repair
of the
harbour.
Unfortunately the harbour saw none of the money as,
in 1584, Thomas Allen, the former Mayor, absconded
with the proceeds. After this the church was demolished
and shops and houses built along the northern side
of the Market Square.
In 1605 the Corporation built
itself a Guildhall in the Market Square. This building
consisted of a large room on the upper floor supported
on grotesquely carved wooden pillars. The upper room
was used for council meetings and as a court room
and under it were market stalls. The Guildhall was
used by the Council until 1836 when they moved to
the
Maison Dieu. After
the departure of the Corporation a Town Museum was
started on the upper floor of the Guildhall. The Museum
remained here until 1848 when it moved to new premises
above the
market hall,
which had been built on the site of the old gaol.
The Guildhall was finally demolished in 1861.
The town gaol stood on the south side of the Market
Square from 1746. In May 1820 the old gaol was destroyed
by a mob intent on liberating some smugglers who were
imprisoned there. It was rebuilt the same year and
remained in use until the new prison was built at
the
Maison Dieu in 1834.
In the north-eastern corner of the square is the ‘Dickens
Corner’ tea room. This occupies the site of the old
established bakers,
Iggledsen
and Graves. The original shop is mentioned by
Charles Dickens
in his novel
‘David
Copperfield’.
