11 Must-visit Markets

Leicestershire’s food markets are centuries old but fizz with life, providing the shopping equivalent of an invigorating chilli hit. Instead of dulling the senses, supermarket-style, they slap you around the cheeks with locally produced food and traders’ banter. This is shopping in the wild, as nature intended!

Take Leicester Market. The stallholders at this city-centre institution have vied for shoppers’ attention for 800 years. Today, they remain as energetic as their predecessors in the 18th century when selling Charnwood venison to Daniel Lambert. As a result, Leicester Market remains a magnificent place to buy fruit, veg, meat, fish and more – at excellent prices.  
 
Melton Mowbray Market is even more ancient – over 1,000 years old – and home to England’s largest town-centre livestock market, where thousands of sheep and cattle change hands weekly, alongside stalls selling Melton pork pies, Stilton and more.  
 
But our local markets are not just historical exhibits; they perform a vital commercial role. They are where food entrepreneurs begin their journeys, passionately showcasing exciting new products. They also support a vast swathe of established small businesses, while from a shopper’s perspective, they provide a route to genuinely local food and a link to friendly neighbours.  
 
Of course, Leicestershire’s market towns – as the term implies – wouldn’t exist without their markets. Market Harborough market dates back to 1204, with its purpose-built indoor market added 789 years later. 
 
In west Leicestershire, meanwhile, you’ll find Market Bosworth Market – granted a Royal Charter in 1285, two centuries before the Battle of Bosworth Field. And further north, there’s Coalville, with its purpose-built indoor ‘Newmarket’, and Loughborough, with its bi-weekly retail market and monthly farmers’ market. 
 
Grab your bags. It’s time to do some good, old-fashioned shopping…