Market Towns and the Countryside in Late Medieval England

Abstract

This study of the interactions between market towns and their surrounding countryside is inspired by David Farmer’s work on agricultural marketing. Central place theories of "spheres of influence" are applied to a number of small English towns for which there is evidence of commercial contacts in the period 1280-1520. A sample of towns is used, including a group of contiguous market centres in the west midlands. Trading hinterlands are defined and compared, showing that a half of places with which small towns traded lay within a radius of ten km. The shape of hinterlands was influenced by a number of geographical and economic factors. Analysis of debts and records of trade contacts allows us to define the urban hierarchy and the extent of competition between towns. A commercial chain is found linking London and the ports to provincial cities and then with the network of market towns, which in turn dealt with small-scale village traders. Even some small towns, which usually went in for little specialization, developed a distinctive product or commodity. Social and cultural factors also played a part in defining relations between town and country. The study of hinterlands and relations between towns gives general insights into the medieval economy.