Derby Market History

Amongst the earliest market traders in the Derby area were an order of Cluniac Monks in the eleventh and twelfth centuries who held an annual fair during the feast of St. James in July.

One of the original aims of regulated markets was to allow producers to sell directly to the public, and cut out profiteering middlemen.

Fixed stalls in the Medieval Market were often passed down from parents to their children.

The Great Plague of 1665 devastated local trade in Derby. The Market was temporarily moved to Nun's Green at the foot of the headless cross (which is now on Friar Gate). Market traders chewed tobacco to protect themselves from contamination and insisted customers leave money for their purchases in a bowl, which had been filled with vinegar as a disinfectant.

In 1772, Thomas Bott, a farmer, sold his wife to a man who lived in Langley common for eighteen pence. The transaction was completed in the Market Place, where he delivered her to her purchaser with a halter round her waist.

In the 1960s the Market Hall had a pet section where domestic animals and birds were sold.

Workmen discovered unique traces of Derby's history during the multi-million pound transformation of the market Hall in 1989. A well six feet wide and thirty feet deep was uncovered in the early days of work which experts believe may have served buildings which stood on the site prior to 1964. Tunnels were discovered running between the Lock-Up Yard and the Guildhall. They were probably used to move prisoners between the two areas.

On April 6 1954 local press reported that a fire had swept through the Morledge Market, causing between £2,000 - £3,000 worth of damage to the building alone. Many of the stall holders affected by the fire lost most of their goods. “There must have been at least £2,000 worth of goods in my husband's stall alone and we are not even insured, one stall holder commented.

Derby Shrovetide football began each year in the Market Place. At 2.00pm the previous year's scorer would be carried in with the ball, and he would have the honour of 'turning the ball up'. The Market Place would have been full with a couple of thousand people, many playing whilst others just watched the event. Mischievous boys would empty bags of powder and soot on well dressed visitors, sometimes from the upstairs windows of shops on the Market Place. Once the game began the ball would have stayed in the Market Place for an hour of so as the large crowd of players, the hug, tried to move it towards their goal. A Mayor claimed that Shrovetide football was responsible for some properties around the Market Place being hard to let, and that buildings were damaged by the mob as it passed them. The first mention of the game in the newspapers is 1747, although it had probably been going on for many years; it was suppressed by force in 1846 and 1847 after which it was never played again.

Derby still has a 'Pinder and Tenter', which pre-dates the office of Mayor. A 'Pinder' is responsible for rounding up stray animals, and a 'Tenter' is a cloth worker.

A Cheese Fair and a Horse Fair were held in Derby from 1773. The Horse Fair was held in Friar Gate, and the cheese fair was held on Nun's Green. There was also a pinfold on Nun's Green, in which straying cattle were locked. This was watched over by the Pinder.

The Eagle Market
Market Monday to Saturday 9am to 5.30pm

Market Hall
Monday to Saturday 9am to 5.30pm

Allenton Market
Friday 9am to 4.30pm Saturday 9am to 5pm

Allenton Flea/Craft
Market Tuesday 4pm to 7.30pm

Cattle Market
Thursday from 10.00am

Farmers Market
Every third Thursday of the month

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Tel: 01332 255519
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