Stowmarket
| Stowmarket | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Population | 15,059 (2001 Census) |
| OS grid reference | TM048588 |
| • London | 89.1mi |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | STOWMARKET |
| Postcode district | IP14 |
| Dialling code | 01449 |
| Police | Suffolk |
| Fire | Suffolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Stowmarket is a small market town situated in Suffolk, England, on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edmunds to the west and Ipswich to the southeast. The town is on the main railway line between London and Norwich, and has an approximate population of 19,000. It is the largest town in the Mid Suffolk district and is represented in parliament by the MP for Bury St Edmunds, currently David Ruffley. Stowmarket lies on the River Gipping, which is joined by its tributary, the River Rat, to the south of the town.
The town takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘Stow’ meaning ‘principal place’, and was granted a market charter in 1347 by Edward III. A bi-weekly market is still held there today on Thursday and Saturday.
Landmarks
The church of St Peter and St Mary is in the ‘Decorated’ style and dates to the 14th century. The 16th century former vicarage, now the town council offices and register office, has associations with John Milton, and ‘Milton’s Tree’ in its grounds is believed to be an offshoot of one of the many trees he planted there.
Opened in 1967, the Museum of East Anglian Life occupies a 70 acre (283,000 m²) site close to the town centre.
Transportation
In the 18th century the Gipping was made navigable between Stowmarket and Ipswich by a series of locks. The newly created canal was known as the Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation.
Stowmarket railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street to Norwich. It is also the junction of the line to Bury St Edmunds. It is served by Greater Anglia.
Suffolk County Council has begun building a road from the Central Roundabout, a short distance to the east of Stowmarket, to Gipping Way in central Stowmarket at a cost of £21 million.[1] The scheme was compleated in summer 2010. The new road bridges the railway line and the River Gipping.[2]
Buses
see List of bus routes in Stowmarket and Needham Market
Sport and leisure
Stowmarket has a Non-League football club Stowmarket Town F.C. who play at Greens Meadow.
Events
Disaster struck Stowmarket on 11 August 1871, when an explosion at a local gun cotton factory claimed twenty-eight lives, the site is now home to a large paint factory.
Stowmarket has received welcome press coverage in local papers on annual events in summer time such as the well-attended carnival and the recent music festival "Stow-Fest". The event has gained popularity over the years with large numbers of bands and musicians from Stowmarket and the surrounding area's attending.
Stowmarket achieved national fame as a result of being frequently mentioned by the broadcaster John Peel who lived nearby until his death in 2004. The John Peel centre for creative arts was named in his honour.
Notable residents
The poet John Milton made regular visits to the town as his tutor, Dr Thomas Young, became vicar of Stowmarket in 1628.
Other notable residents included political writer William Godwin, who spent time as minister at the Stowmarket Independent Church; and singer / West End actress, Kerry Ellis, who was brought up in the nearby village of Haughley and attended Stowmarket's High School. Delia Smith also resides nearby in Combs. Stow has produced a professional footballer, James Scowcroft who played for the local junior sides and Ipswich Town. Professional wrestler Neil Faith has lived in Stowmarket. As well as poet George Crabbe, who went to school in the town. The town has a plethera of grassroots clubs playing a multitude of sports, many feature on Stowmarket Sport.
Climate
Stowmarket has a maritime climate type as is typical for the bulk of the British Isles. Wattisham is the nearest official weather station, about 4 miles south south west of Stowmarket Town centre.
The absolute maximum temperature recorded was 35.3c (95.5f)[3] during the August 2003 heatwave, - in an average year 11.9 days[4] will report a temperature of 25.1c (77.2f) or above, with the warmest day of the year rising to 29.0c (84.2f).[5]
The absolute minimum temperature is -14.6c (5.7f),[6] set in January 1979, although given online records only date back to 1960, it is likely the winter of 1947 saw lower temperatures. In an average year, 48.3[7] air frosts can be expected.
Sunshine, averaging over 1635 hours[8] a year, is amongst the highest for inland areas of Britain. Annual rainfall totals average below 575mm, with over 1mm of rain falling on 109.4 days.[9] All averages refer to the observation period 1971-2000.
| Climate data for Wattisham, elevation 87m, 1971-2000, extremes 1960- | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 14.1 (57.4) |
17.0 (62.6) |
21.7 (71.1) |
24.1 (75.4) |
27.6 (81.7) |
33.0 (91.4) |
32.1 (89.8) |
35.3 (95.5) |
28.5 (83.3) |
24.7 (76.5) |
17.9 (64.2) |
15.3 (59.5) |
35.3 (95.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.3 (43.3) |
6.6 (43.9) |
9.5 (49.1) |
11.9 (53.4) |
15.8 (60.4) |
18.7 (65.7) |
21.4 (70.5) |
21.6 (70.9) |
18.3 (64.9) |
13.9 (57.0) |
9.3 (48.7) |
7.1 (44.8) |
13.4 (56.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0.7 (33.3) |
0.7 (33.3) |
2.3 (36.1) |
3.7 (38.7) |
6.8 (44.2) |
9.5 (49.1) |
11.8 (53.2) |
11.9 (53.4) |
9.9 (49.8) |
7.2 (45.0) |
3.5 (38.3) |
1.9 (35.4) |
5.8 (42.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −14.6 (5.7) |
−10 (14) |
−8.6 (16.5) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
−2.3 (27.9) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
3.8 (38.8) |
3.6 (38.5) |
1.5 (34.7) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
−7 (19) |
−13.2 (8.2) |
−14.6 (5.7) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 49.5 (1.95) |
35.1 (1.38) |
42.5 (1.67) |
41.2 (1.62) |
43.7 (1.72) |
52.2 (2.06) |
42.4 (1.67) |
47.1 (1.85) |
55.1 (2.17) |
57.2 (2.25) |
55.6 (2.19) |
52.1 (2.05) |
573.8 (22.59) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 57.4 | 75.7 | 111.3 | 159.0 | 213.6 | 208.2 | 212.7 | 205.8 | 148.5 | 117.5 | 73.2 | 52.4 | 1,635.2 |
| Source 1: MetOffice[10] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: KNMI[11] | |||||||||||||
References
- ^ "Rosie Winterton, Transport Minister announces £21m relief for Stowmarket". 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ "B1115 Stowmarket Relief Road". Retrieved 2009-10-14.
- ^ "August 2003". Retrieved 2011-02-26.
- ^ "1971-00>25c days". Retrieved 2011-02-26.
- ^ "Average Warmest Day". Retrieved 2011-02-26.
- ^ "January 1979 minimum". Retrieved 2011-02-26.
- ^ "Average Air frosts". Retrieved 2011-02-26.
- ^ "Sunshine average". Retrieved 2011-02-26.
- ^ "1971-00 raindays". Retrieved 2011-02-26.
- ^ "Climate Normals 1971–2000". MetOffice. Retrieved 26 Feb 2011.
- ^ "Climate Extremes 1960". KNMI. Retrieved 26 feb 2011.
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