Uttoxeter Online Magazine

The land around Uttoxeter has been mainly used for farming, we see evidence for this in the first records of Uttoxeter in the Domesday book. Even then the wealth of the town was calculated by the number of persons holding land, what area was ploughed by oxen and how many free men and men under bondage(slaves) there were to work the land. Wooded areas were measured and added to the value. At the time of the Domesday book in 1086 Uttoxeter had a yearly value of £8.

The industry in the town and area was agriculture or industries which were the result of the agricultural industry.

By 1252 Uttoxeter had been granted a Market Charter, to hold a market every Wednesday and a three day fair every year in September, this was confirmed by another Charter in 1308 by Edward II however in this Charter the date of the fair was changed to July.

We see from this that the Wednesday market in Uttoxeter has been happening for over 750 years.

This was an important aspect of the life of the town as people from the surrounding district and the townspeople themselves were able to trade their goods and produce as they do today.

From these early beginnings can be seen the growth in the importance of the town in supplying various goods, from ploughs to heavy waggons, wooden barrels to carriages all made within the town and surrounding district, in fact most things needed for everyday living would be made locally.

There were tanneries near to Hockley brook where leather was cured and a thriving leather business grew in the town, there were iron foundaries near to the Hockley near to the present JCB building. There was a brick works where bricks were made for local building, and of course the usual millers, bakers, shoemakers, blacksmiths, farriers, saddlers, cloth merchants and other occupations too many to list.

During the 1690's there were nine tanners in the town making articles like gloves, shoes, saddles, etc. This arose not only because of the cattle industry in the town but again because of it's situation. The nearness of the woodlands of Marchington and the Needwood Forest, which provided bark for use in the tanning of hides. There is still a saddlers in the town operating just off the market place near to the War Memorial.

The fact that there were several industries operating in and around the town meant more opportunity for employment within the town, the growth of other businesses, greater numbers living in the town and eventually more wealth for the town as a whole.

Because of the many different trades and goods available in Uttoxeter, the town attracted people from a wide area and the market became more successful, probably resulting in the ending of some nearby markets like that at Tutbury, as there was much more choice of services and an ' excellence of facilities' in Uttoxeter.

Shops began to offer a better choice of goods, more unusual and exotic fruits and spices were available, there was a growth in the number of cloth mechants and tailors, and as well as the townspeople, passing traders would be using the facilities of inns, ironmongers, blacksmiths, wheelwrights and waggon builders and the wide range of other businesses, including a thriving silver trade, within the town. And so the wealth and importance of the town grew. In the Seventeenth Century there were approximately 3,000 people living in the town, which was now one of the three most important towns in Staffordshire, being larger than Stafford the County town and being equalled only by the city of Lichfield and Wolverhampton.

Most towns of the Seventeenth Century had only one main street and a few minor streets leading from it. From the map of Uttoxeter in the Seventeenth Century it can be seen that there were many streets leading from the High Steet.