Old, and Some New, Photographs of Woodbridge & Melton
This1900 photograph shows the Kings Head Inn on the eastern end of Market Hill. Sadly there are no other old photographs showing the other buildings on eastern end of Market Hill.
The buildings in this 2010 photograph have probably not changed significantly since 1840. There has, however, been a recent change to a courtyard behind the green building. Within the courtyard there is now an attractively designed building which reached via a narrow passageway along the left side of the green building.
This photograph shows the weekly market in about 1900.
By about 1800, and possibly earlier, the lord of the manor of Woodbridge late Priory had ceased to exercise his market rights. Although the market was still taking place weekly he was no longer erecting stalls on the Market Place and collecting a tax on the goods sold. In 1803 the open arches in the lower part of the Shire Hall were partly bricked up and windows were installed. The space created was used as a corn exchange which was run by the ‘Corn Market Committee’. By 1830 the market was described as being “an extensive one for corn and cattle”. By then the retail needs of the townspeople were clearly being met by shops rather than market stalls.
Phot010
The Shire Hall and the Market Place in about 1911. The public pump and drinking fountain was erected by the Seckford Foundation erected in 1877 for the "use and convenience of the poor inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood". The fountain had "a trough filled with water, for the comfort and convenience of dogs, horses and cattle passing through the town".
Seckford Foundation held a competition to design the public pump and drinking fountain. It was won by William Henry Lockwood who submitted the design for the pump and drinking fountain which now adorns the Market Hill. He called the design ‘Victoria’ because it resembled the headdresses worn by the Queen.
