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The Open Market

Photo by Kathrin Hunger

A potted history, 1919-2003

By John Blackwell

The Open Market started life in 1919 as an unofficial market in nearby Oxford Street. The barrows, mostly owned by ex-servicemen, were soon moved to the rose walk in the centre of the Level, but in 1926 a permanent site was found on the gardens of Marshall's Row (the site of the present market).

These cottagers were demolished in 1938 with the exception of Dawkin's smithy, which survived until about 1960. In front of this was a horse stock for shoeing fractious horses and a tyring wheel for shrinking iron rims onto cart wheels. Inside was the forge and anvil for shaping the horse shoes, a welcome spot on a cold winter's day.

With the demolition of the cottagers a line of permanent stalls under a tiled roof was created selling mainly cheap fruit and vegetables. The market was extended in 1960 by using the rear gardens of Baker Street, when the present stalls were constructed.

This page was added on 22/03/2006.

Comments:

I recall the Open Market well, as my mother used to purchase all our fresh comestibles (ie. just about our entire food intake other than bread and cereals) there each Saturday. We would carry our purchases out to the nearby bus stop and take the 26 trolleybus up the short steep incline of Ditchling Road to alight at St Saviour's.

One very clear memory was of a stall which stood out like a sore thumb among the Open Market's veg, butchery and fish stalls. This was the "blind man's toy stall". I can't remember the name of the blind man, but he sold all manner of inexpensive plastic toys, mostly labelled "Made in Japan" at a time when all Japanese imports were regarded with derision as cheap junk (which most of them then were). Of course, this was before the era of Honda, Sony, Yamaha, Pioneer and all the other superb precision product manufacturers from that country!

If anyone knows more about the blind man and his stall, certainly an Open Market institution, I'd be interested to hear.

By Len Liechti (18/04/2008)

I have a photograph of one of the original stalls that was in the Level. It was run by Frank Parrett my uncle.

By Dennis Parrett (24/05/2008)