Charter celebrated as town set to mark 800th birthday

Montgomery Town Crier, Sue Blower, donned her regalia to help stallholders and visitors to Montgomery Market celebrate the signing of Montgomery’s Royal Charter with a special proclamation in Broad Street.

The Charter was signed in 1227, after which Thursday Markets began and continued in an almost unbroken tradition through the years to the present day.

The Town Council has the right to have traders’ stalls on both sides of Broad Street, although in practice the lower town hall provides shelter for most.

Sue also reminded listeners of the important date of October 1, 2023, when Montgomery will be celebrating the castle’s 800th birthday - 800 years since Henry III was given Castle Hill to build a new defensive border castle against the marauding Welsh.

This effectively marked the beginning of the town of Montgomery with the start of construction of the castle, and in just four more years the signing of its Royal Charter.

As always, Montgomery Market itself was bustling with a range of high-quality produce stalls selling fruit and vegetables, local meat, fish, breads, jams and pickles, soaps, jewellery, artworks and vintage objets d’art.