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Stowmarket ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. on the A14 trunk road between Bury St Edmunds to the west and Ipswich to the southeast. The town lies on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) between Diss and Needham Market, and 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 Old English word stōw 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.
The population of the town has increased from around 6,000 in 1981 to around 21,000 in 2021, with considerable further development planned for the town and surrounding villages as part of an area action plan. It is the largest town in the Mid Suffolk district and is represented in Parliament by the MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, currently Peter Prinsley.
Stowmarket High School was founded in 1909.
On 8 June 1918, the first UK astronomical observation of nova V603 Aquilae was made from Stowmarket by A. Grace Cook. History repeated itself on 13 December 1934 when amateur astronomer J. P. M. Prentice discovered DQ Herculis from the town.
Just before midday on Friday 31 January 1941, a solitary Luftwaffe (eyewitness accounts differ on the model) was spotted over Stowmarket firing its guns. The bomber strafed a large area of the town, before dropping bombs onto the High Street. The Stowmarket Congregational Chapel, a Gothic-style building that was built in the 19th century, was completely destroyed. There was one casualty, Mrs Rhoda Farrow, who had just returned from seeing her son Ronald and his fiancée off at the railway station.
On 17 July 2002, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, visited Stowmarket during the Golden Jubilee Celebrations. This was the Queen's second visit to Stowmarket, having first visited the town in July 1961. During the visit, they visited the local market, meeting stall holders before the Queen unveiled a new Town Sign and met representatives from local organisations while the Duke of Edinburgh met students who took part in The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and viewed a display at the Museum of East Anglian Life.
Haughley Park is an historical house situated in Haughley to the west of the town, of some significance, listed in the English Heritage Register. It is a large red brick country house built in about 1620 for the Sulyard family who were very prominent landowners in this area.
Opened in 1967, The Food Museum (formerly the Museum of East Anglian Life) occupies a site close to the town centre.
The Karnser is a raised pavement in Station Road West, next to the church. The name is the East Anglian dialect word caunsey, meaning a causey (causeway).
In the 18th century, the River 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.
Suffolk County Council has built 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. The scheme was completed in summer 2010. The new road bridges the railway line and the River Gipping.
Local radio stations are BBC Radio Suffolk on 103.9 FM, Heart East on 96.4 FM and Greatest Hits Radio Ipswich & Suffolk on 106.4 FM.
The Stowmarket Mercury is the town's local newspaper.
| 2001 | Ronald Snell | Labour | Duncan Macpherson | Labour | ||
| 2005 | Keith Myers-Hewitt | Conservatives | Eleanor Ramsey | Conservatives | ||
| 2009 | Anne Whybrow | Conservatives | Gary Green | Conservatives | ||
| 2013 | Stephen Searle | UKIP | Gary Green | Conservatives | ||
| 2017 | Nick Gowrley | Conservatives | Gary Green | Conservatives | ||
| 2021 | Keith Scarff | Liberal Democrats | Keith Welham | Green Party |
The Regal Theatre cinema has been in operation in the town centre for more than fifty years, offering films, concerts and theatre productions.
The former corn exchange underwent a £1 million refurbishment in 2012 to become a music venue, art gallery and theatre named the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts. It is named after John Peel and broadcaster who lived in nearby Great Finborough..
The absolute maximum temperature recorded was during the July 2022 heatwave. In an average year 11.9 days will report a temperature of or above, with the warmest day of the year rising to .
The absolute minimum temperature is , set in January 1979, although given online records only date back to 1959; it is likely the winter of 1947 saw lower temperatures. In an average year, 41.9 air frosts can be expected.
Sunshine, averaging over 1,720 hours a year, is amongst the highest for inland areas of Britain. Annual rainfall totals average below 625mm, with over 1mm of rain falling on 117 days. Averages refer to a mix of the 1971–2000 and 1991-2020 observation periods.
Stowmarket also plays host to the Stow-Fest music festival, a live music open air event that takes place annually at Chilton Fields in the north of Stowmarket. Since 2010 the town has hosted the Stowblues Festival, organised in partnership with BBC Radio Suffolk.
The Mix is located on Ipswich Street and is a flagship youth and community centre in Suffolk.
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 High School. Delia Smith also resides nearby in Combs. Stowmarket has produced professional footballers, James Scowcroft, who played for the local junior sides and Ipswich Town, among others. Professional wrestler Neil Faith has lived in Stowmarket. Sally Eastall, who competed in the 1992 Olympics marathon, was born in Stowmarket. The poet George Crabbe went to school in the town. The amateur astronomers A. Grace Cook and J. P. M. Prentice lived in the town. Gareth Snell, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, is from Stowmarket.
Murder victim Matthew Pyke grew up in Stowmarket.
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