Flashback: Robert Brown on the Lesser Market in Basingstoke

A long archway takes you through to Church Street, which in the olden days was known as a twittern. These archways are to be seen in Winchester Street and London Street as well.

But, returning to the shop units, they were built in 1884 by the town corporation to replace a yard at the rear of the Town Hall where stallholders sold meat, poultry, fish and vegetables.

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The site of the Lesser Market in 1880 (Image: Contributed)

The land was originally the backyard of Mr Caston’s ironmongers shop in the early 19th century. Then, in 1831, the area was taken over for a new Town Hall, and the three occupiers of the two shops and public houses that were on the site were paid a total of £3,000 compensation.

When the Town Hall was completed, the land at the rear was quickly acquired by traders who had no permanent shops. For the next 50 years, local folk would visit the site to buy their food.

It was the constant bickering between stallholders, as to who should put their stalls in which positions, that led to the town corporation establishing a “Green Market” of five units to face Wote Street.

On November 6, 1884, Basingstoke’s mayor, Captain John May, laid the foundation stone at the Corn Exchange end of the units, and, within a year, the market building was completed.

A drinking fountain was built into the wall of the archway, and this was used by both tradesmen and customers.

The fountain eventually became neglected, and by 1910 the water had dried up in the pipe and it took a public outcry to restore the fountain to its original state.

In May 1925, the Lesser Market, as it became known, was closed for several weeks due to a devastating fire that destroyed most of the Corn Exchange, which, by then, had been converted into a theatre and cinema.

By 1930, the shop units had been reduced to four, as two were made into one some years earlier. The units were occupied, from the Town Hall downwards, by R Toomer, coal merchant; F M Payne, fruiterer; F Ransome, tobacconist; and T Tyrrell, fishmonger.

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Twenty years later the order was: E Toombs, hairdresser; Mrs F Payne, greengrocer; T Tyrrell and sons, fish, poultry and game dealers; and John Bryant, tobacconist.

By 1967 the first three traders were still there but the last one was then an F Scott, tobacconist.

Of the names mentioned, only Tyrrells remains to sell produce. They were established at the Lesser Market in 1908 and the family has sold fish for nearly 100 years in that building, although not in the same shop unit.

In 1981 it was decided that the Haymarket Theatre should have an extension built to allow better access into the building, and so the Lesser Market was altered.

The shop units nearest the theatre were made into an entrance and café area, so that only two shop units were left.

This £650,000 scheme threatened the fruit and vegetable decorations around the market’s structure, but it was announced that this century-old sculpture would not be touched.

The drinking fountain was removed from the archway and placed on a wall nearby to allow the public to see it better.

As Tyrrell’s shop was affected by this extension it was decided to remove part of the wall at the rear of the Town Hall and make a shop there. At that time the Town Hall was nearly out of commission as such, and a few years later it became The Willis Museum.

Tyrrells moved to new premises in the early part of 1982.

The façade of the Lesser Market has attracted the attention of many visitors to the town, and the local folk, who have seen so many changes to the whole of Basingstoke, are pleased that one old part of the town has been allowed to stay for future generations to admire.

This article was written by Robert Brown and first published on October 22, 2004