Dover
Lock and Key of the Kingdom

AbeBooks.co.uk
Market Square

Home

History

Defence

Transport

Leisure

Places

People

Words

Information
Dover News
Email this Page to a Friend
Contact Us
<< Back
Click Here for fantastic Hotels & Apartments

 

TalkTalk free broadband up to 8 Meg
Access and control your computer from anywhere.

Image:  The Market Square c.1900.
The Market Square c.1900.

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’.

 

Image:  The Market Square in 1822, showing the old Guildhall.
The Market Square in 1822, showing the old Guildhall.

Image:  The new Gaol built in 1820.
The new Gaol built in 1820.

 


BACK TO TOP

Image:  Shakespeare Cliff.transparent