To begin with, I hardly glanced at the small low terrace of tiny shops, most of them seemingly unoccupied, that runs along the northern side of the market place in Cromford. Big stone blocks filling in the gaps between low doors and rather small windows, plus a space above that seemed rather too large for a shop sign, all below a hipped roof of slate. Even so, the design of this unregarded building seemed un usual, and I wondered… Then I saw a brief account of these buildings and gave them another glance, because I learned that they’re actually – in origin at least – Georgian. This is a tiny Georgian shambles, in other words a row of small shops running near or along the edge of a market place, usually originally occupied by people such as butchers.* They came about when market traders, needing more permanent premises than a temporary stall, built shops either on the site of their old pitch or nearby.
These must have arrived in Cromford during the heyday of Arkwright’s mill, when the town was growing and there would have been a ready market for food such as meat that could not be grown or raised at home. Sadly, they have now seen better days. Nearly every window is different from its neighbours, suggesting that most are replacements.§ Likewise the doors, some of which are boarded up or even, like the one in the foreground of my photograph, replaced with masonry. My picture is not very good – I had to shoot at a an angle to avoid a row of parked cars and vans that would have virtually hidden the shops from view. But it gives one an idea of what’s here†…and perhaps of the potential that could be unlocked if the building were restored.
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* Usually butchers, although fishing ports sometimes have ‘fish shambles’, and Dublin has a Fishamble Street on the site of a former fish market.
§ Although the small panes in some of the windows, especially the two on the left, do suggest an early date.
† There was once another row at the other side of the market place.
† There was once another row at the other side of the market place.
4 comments:
A temporary market stall would be very pleasant and accessible in summer but cold and wet in winter. The small shops near the market square were a great idea.
Fascinating stuff - reminds me of two rows of little shops in Malton (North Yorkshire) in a street called The Shambles running from the Marketplace up to the old livestock market by some coincidence.
Anonymous: Thank you for your comment. It's a very long time since I went to Malton, so I did not remember the Shambles there. I've just looked it up, and it is indeed a purpose-built street of shops, and in far better condition than the one at Cromford in my post. It's probably early- or mid-19th century. It's no coincidence that it is near the market, because butchers often started as market traders before building their own shops, or shambles, nearby or even on the site of their stalls. The wooden ventilation grilles over the doors in the Shambles at Malton are typical of old butchers' shops.
The Greyhound Hotel was built in 1778 and for a short while was known as The Black Dog. The market place was built at about the same time, with the shambles being built circa 1790. It was Grade II listed in 1996, as a building of 20-26 Market Place, Cromford, dated from 1769 onwards, because it is a rare example of an 18th century row of purpose built shops, without accommodation. Originally, there were 6 units and no. 26 still has the windows seen in early photos. At one time, in living memory (mid 20th C), the end unit was a fresh fish shop, selling fish brought from Grimsby. In 1841, the tythe map shows the row being used as stables & warehouse, stores for a grocery, butcher's shop, and a shoe maker's shop (though the family were hatters). Today (2024) there is a shop selling collectibles and a Fish & Chip shop. It is thought that a similar row once existed on the southern side of the square, as can be seen on the tythe map, but this was replaced by the community centre in the Victorian period.
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