Moreton-in-Marsh Market • Tuesday • Stratford Road • Gloucestershire • GL56 9NQ

Moreton-in-Marsh Market’s story is a tale of two seasons. Packed to the brim in summer, it is a quieter affair in the winter months as the tourist season fades. Nicola Gould visits a buoyant Cotswolds market that is upholding a tradition that goes way back in the pages of history

Feature compiled September 2024

Hailed as the premier market in the scenic Cotswolds, Moreton-in-Marsh Market boasts what some claim to be the most stunning location in England and has a reputation to match.
The town, which grew from the wool trade, was granted a market charter in 1629.
But today’s market is a more modern event, established in 1976 by a market company that was taken over by the current operator Cotswold Markets more than a decade ago.
The company runs a string of events across the Cotswolds, including some cracking retail, farmers and craft markets, as well as stand-alone events including street fairs and festivals.
But it is Moreton Market that has been the company’s standard bearer over many years.

“It used to be traditional stalls but in Covid when I took over we invested in gazebos which were easier to manage with all the restrictions and we have stuck with that ever since,” he added.
With its many upmarket independent shops and pretty Cotswold stone buildings amid stunning countryside, Moreton attracts visitors by the coachload. In the summer the market is full, with a waiting list of traders.
Still a traditional market with plenty of staples for locals, many craft and gift traders sell their wares to tourists during the warmer months and disappear in winter.

Held every Tuesday on the wide boulevard off the High Street, the market is a colourful affair of mainly green and white striped gazebos set against the backdrop of honey-coloured Cotswolds stone shops and eateries.
In the summer months it brings the popular tourist town to vibrant life, attracting coaches full of visitors to the town.
In the winter it is a more muted event, but there is still a good mix of staple stalls like the anchor fruit and veg stall run by Neil Stodd which has been on the market for decades.
Kevin Walters, universally known as Jagger, has been managing Moreton market since Covid. “It has always been a busy market, especially in the summer,” he said.

Neil Stodd has the anchor fruit and veg stall on the market. His grandfather started the family business in Leicester and he has been selling fruit and veg on markets since he left school at 16 38 years ago

Jagger, whose name is actually Kevin Walters, runs Moreton-in-Marsh market for private operator Cotswold Markets

Jagger says the rent scheme reflects that, with summer traders paying more than all-year ones.
Long-standing traders who have been on the market for many years remember boom times but are still content to stand a market that continues to pull in the punters.
Neil Stodd began selling fruit and veg on Moreton market in 1986 when he was 16. “My grandfather started the market business in Leicester and we are still based there,” he said. “Markets have changed obviously. These days we offer a lot more variety. People like to pick their own and there are a lot more card payments.”
Neil and his team arrive at four in the morning and have

set up their large array of stalls by seven. “We often serve customers before then,” he added.
Mandy Cogger has been running the market’s burger van on the market for 26 years. “It’s a really good market in the summer but it’s smaller and not as busy in the winter,” she said.
At 75, Savvy, as everyone knows him, has been trading in Moreton longer than anyone. “My business has evolved over the years,” he said.
“I started selling gold and silver but when the price of gold went through the roof I switched. In business you have to duck and dive.”

Mandy Cogger has been running the burger van on Moreton market for 26 years

At 75, Savvy is the longest serving trader on Moreton market where he sells leather goods, cosmetics, cloth caps and scarves

Mario Nawiesniak sells sheepskins, baskets and wooden items as part of a family business that spans the UK and his native Poland

Savvy now sells a bit of everything including leather belts, cosmetics, cloth caps and scarves. “It was a brilliant market when Grenchurch started it,” he said. “They used to bus people in from all the villages. They stopped that about 10 years ago so we rely on the coaches now. We have all sorts of customers, and we always have a laugh and a joke,” he added.
Among the businesses that focus on tourists is an impressive stall selling animal skins, baskets and wooden items. Mario Nawiesniak, who is Polish, explains that his family has been living in the UK for more than a decade, but the business called Sheep and Chic pivots between the two countries. The skins are cured in Poland and much of the basketware and wood items are made there.

“We do well on this market selling to tourists and some locals,” he said.
Another trader, Clare Swift, is on a mission with the wellness business she started four years ago during lockdown.
She began making natural, organic aromatherapy and skin care products and candles.
“I researched the health benefits of lavender and rosemary which are my key ingredients and my mission to to provide affordable, natural, organic products to my community,” Clare said.
Everything she sells is plastic free.
All jars are reusable, and Clare offers a refill service.
“I began selling on this market in March and I love it,” she said. “It’s the mix of locals and tourists and the many different things traders here are selling.”

Clare Swift runs a business specialising in natural, organic handmade candles, aromatherapy and skin care products