Bideford Pannier Market

Bideford's market traces its origins to 1204 when Sir Richard Grenville, Lord of the Manor of Bideford, refers to it in a Charter setting out the rights of local people. These rights were confirmed in a Charter of 1272 granted by Henry III at which time the Medieval market was located at the bottom of the present High Street, by the river. These rights were renewed when Bideford received its Charter of Incorporation in 1573 which also established a town council and a Mayor of Bideford.

In 1675 the council moved the market from the High Street to its present site, it then being a collection of stalls with a 'shambles' or butcher's market in one section with the town stocks also bring present. In 1750 the Manor of Bideford including the market rights passed to the hands of the Cleveland Family of nearby Tapeley Park in Instow. A glimpse of the market at that time is presented by Bideford's first historian, John Watkins, who wrote "It is very well supplied with all kinds of provisions, and at a moderate rate." By the 19th-century market traders were demanding better conditions and in 1825 the market was roofed over for the first time. In 1861 a tourist wrote "The whole…