At the geographical heart of rural Suffolk and on the River Gipping
lies the Town of Stowmarket. The Town has a prominent location with
excellent communication links as it is situated on the A14 trunk
road, 12 miles from Ipswich to the South East and 14 miles from
Bury St Edmunds to the North West. The A14 runs from the Midlands
and the North to the Euro-Port of Felixstowe. The town is also served
by the main Norwich to London rail link.
Stowmarket was originally an agricultural market town until industry
developed following the canalization of the River Gipping in 1793,
bringing new prosperity to the town. Now the old towpath forms an
enjoyable footpath through the Gipping Valley from Stowmarket railway
station to the docks at Ipswich.
A population of 1500 grew to 3000 by 1841. New markets were now
accessible to the agricultural producers of the surrounding area.
Stowmarket was one of the country’s major producers of malt
and the canal enabled the town’s maltsters to send their products
down to Ipswich and then on to London by sea. The arrival of the
railway in 1846 brought further prosperity to the town, but it also
brought about the gradual demise of the canal. River traffic inevitably
declined and the Gipping Navigation was closed by an Act of Parliament
in 1932.
Currently the town’s population is in the region of 18,000
people and it continues to grow with much of the development at
the north end of the town. Despite the growth, Stowmarket hasn’t
lost its charm and is home to a variety of listed buildings in the
town centre, the impressive church of St Peter and St Mary and the
iconic Museum of East Anglian Life.
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