COUNTRY LIFE, with the expert assistance of Savills, presents the top 10 market towns in Britain.
YOU’VE seen them, with their windy streets, picture-perfect houses and farmer’s markets, with fish on show and bread to buy. It’s the market town, of course. They come in all shapes and sizes, from bigger ones, such as Altrincham, near Manchester, to those almost in miniature, such as Southam, Warwickshire.
Now, Savills, exclusively for COUNTRY LIFE, has calculated the top 10 market towns in England, according to the following criteria: the number of outstanding primary schools within the town boundary; distance to the nearest train station; nearest AONB/ national park; and the number of listed buildings within the town proportionate to its population.
The results bring us a market town in every part of the country, from Ditchling in East Sussex to Wetherby in West Yorkshire; Keswick in Cumbria to Sevenoaks in Kent.
Market-town communities are often described as the happiest places to live in the UK. For those moving from town to country —or, at least, city to town—they offer the perfect balance of country life and accessible amenities. Indeed, the market town is a remarkable example of social cohesion over time. ‘Even in the furthest corners of the country, the ever-present infrastructure of big house, church, parsonage and market town produced a mix of classes and fortunes, providing a secure berth for people of any background,’ writes Harry Mount, in How England Made the English (2012).
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