At the centre of Suffolk, this bustling market town is set in the Gipping Valley. Its medieval heart lies around the parish church and the area leading down to the river.

Stowmarket's origins are impossible to date. Its name has pre-Saxon roots, and evidence of a Roman settlement has been found close to the present town centre. The root of Stowmarket´s name is the Old English "Stow", meaning "meeting place".

The industrial growth of the town began in 1793 with the opening of the canal to Ipswich. Today Stowmarket is a popular shopping centre and home of the Museum of East Anglian Life. Here visitors can see fascinating displays, including steam traction engines, reconstructed historic buildings and lots of friendly animals.

Within the grounds is Abbots Hall, which dates from around 1709. It stands on the site of the grange of the Abbots of St Osyth. It is, in effect, Stowmarket´s manor house and in the past much of the town and surrounding countryside was owned by the hall's occupants.

The Old Vicarage in Milton Road (now the Town Council Offices) - was from 1627 to 1655, the home of Dr Thomas Young, vicar of Stowmarket and tutor and close friend to poet John Milton. Milton often visited his tutor here and the Mulberry tree in the middle of the front lawn is reputed to be an offshoot of a tree planted by Milton himself.

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