On behalf of the Town Council I would like to take this opportunity
to welcome you to Stowmarket.
Stowmarket sits in a convenient location between Ipswich and Bury
St Edmunds, in the heart of Mid Suffolk. Stowmarket has frequent
Rail links to London, as well as Norwich.
Within the town there are a number of local and brand shops which
serve the people here. Stowmarket also boasts its very own twice
weekly market offering customers the chance to purchase a wide variety
of goods. We regularly hold Farmers Markets and Continental Markets.
Stowmarket has so much to offer, and I hope this Town Guide will
give an excellent introduction to a flourishing town. If you require
any further information please call in to the Town Council Offices
at Milton House, Milton Road South or telephone 01449 612060 or
email info@stowmarket.org
Councillor Mrs Anne
Whybrow
(Town Mayor 2008 – 2009)
Welcome to Stowmarket by Town Clerk Malcolm Baker
Welcome to the latest edition of our Town Guide and I hope you will
find it of interest and useful. Town Guides used to be the principal
means of discovering details about a town but now the Internet has
become an initial source for many people. It is convenient to sit
at a desk and click on the search engine results that hit the screen.
There is even a web version of this Town Guide!
However, we find a continuing demand for a paper version of the
Town Guide because it is also convenient: it is quite small, it
is there at hand without being bulky, it is portable, it brings
much information together and it is a publication only about our
town. The search engine has already been run for you and the results
filtered!
Elsewhere in this guide you will find articles about the history
of our town. Much of our history is not widely known but as it unfolds
it becomes fascinating and develops a thirsting for more. We have
had some eminent recorders of our history including Hollingsworth
(in words), Harry Double (in pictures) and more recently, the Local
History Society that has worked hard to bring together an enormous
amount of detail covering people in the town. As each aspect comes
to light there seems a further huge amount of our past that has
yet to come to light.
Stowmarket is undergoing changes that will affect it for years to
come. The new A14 trunk road junction at Haughley is putting right
a planning failure when the then A45 was made into a dual carriageway.
This is already reducing the volume of traffic in Gipping Way. The
Stowmarket B1115 Relief Road project (“the bridge”)
is due to be completed by 2011. Soon after that time, work should
start on the regeneration of the town centre in Ipswich Street that
will bring additional retail outlets to the town. The Museum of
East Anglian Life will be well into its project to refurbish Abbots
Hall.
The Town Council is growing in influence and size and this is expected
to continue. This is based on the desire that Stowmarket issues
and services should as far as possible be dealt with locally by
involvement with our residents. There may be opportunity to accelerate
this as a result of the opportunities provided by the Local Government
Review. The Town Council is ideally placed to respond quickly to
local issues and matters arising in the town. We intend to continue
working towards improving the cohesiveness of our community and
our town environment.
We work within the town of Stowmarket and can remain close to the
people served by the Town Council. Because of the close contact,
each day brings up something different because of the need for local
government to be local. However much the County and District Councils
do good work, they are not designed to be as close to our people
as the Town Council. The Town Council “lives” where
it works and benefits by carrying out its functions alongside the
people of the town.
I have been mindful that this Guide will have a “shelf life”
of 2 to 3 years before being updated. I have accordingly dealt with
matters that will continue to affect our town rather than current
happenings. Please make use of the Guide and I trust you will find
it useful over the next few years.
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