Not only is the provision market in Bury St Edmunds one of the most successful traditional street markets in the country today, it also has one of the longest and most colourful histories. It dates back to before the days of William the Conqueror, but surviving written records provide the history shown below. At various times the Market has been split into several sections, including provisions, a corn market, a livestock market and a fish market. In 1997 there remains a separate livestock market which takes place on Wednesdays between Parkway and St Andrews Street (South) and a wholesale corn market which is also held on Wednesdays in the Corn Exchange. The provision market occurs on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the Cornhill and the Buttermarket area of the town. This has grown to where it now has over 80 stalls with 1600 feet of stall frontages on a Saturday and only slightly less on Wednesdays.

c.630	Sigeberht, King of the East Angles founded a monastery at Bedericsworth. This would have been the start of the town as a villa regia or royal town, possibly with such rights as holding a market, but more importantly, charging market tolls. The town was bounded by the River Linnet to the South, the River Lark to the east and the marshes of Tay Fen to the north. The rivers may well have been used to transport some goods to market. The first market place was believed to be located around the area of today's St Mary's Square, being the junction of a North-South Road (Northgate Street and Southgate Street) with modern Westgate Street. The North-South road was in effect the High Street and probably ran in a straight line through the modern Abbey Gardens before the growth of the Abbey caused its diversion around the abbey walls.
945	A large area of land was granted to the monastery by King Edmund covering most of modern Bury St Edmunds. Control of business activities and markets in the area would be included in this grant. This area was called the Banleuca.
1044	Edward the Confessor granted full powers to the Abbot over the much wider area of West Suffolk, called the Liberty of St Edmund.
1065	The Frenchman and Royal Physician, Baldwin, was appointed Abbot and he was in post for 32 years until 1097. He apparently initiated not only the building of the great Abbey Church, but also encouraged the town to double in size to support the rebuilding effort. He has been credited with the town plan which persists today with its large open square of Angel Hill and the initially enormous market place of today's Cornhill and Buttermarket.
1066	The Norman Invasion began, but Abbot Baldwin appeared to find favour with his countryman, William the Conqueror, and all the Abbey's rights and privileges remained in place.
1086	The Domesday Book recorded that there were Markets at Clare and Haverhill, as well as Kelsale, Thorney and Blythburgh. Bury must have had a market at this time, because of its size, but there is no mention of it in Domesday.
1121	An Italian Abbot from near Rome named Anselm became Abbot and took up Baldwin's plans and enlarged and extended them. It is possible that the town layout with its two large plaza-like open areas was his doing, rather than Baldwin's.
1123-7	Henry I issued a writ to Abbot Anselm confirming the abbey's right to hold the market and have the tolls from it. This was confirmed by each succeeding monarch until 1539.
1191	The monks complained to Abbot Samson that the burgesses of the town had made sizeable encroachments in the market place, in shops, booths and stalls. The monks were angry that the rents were paid to Town Reeves and not the Convent. An offer of 100 shillings to end the dispute was refused by the convent. This story was related later by Jocelin of Brackland who concluded that despite many efforts, no compensation was ever received by the monks.
c.1195	Jocelin of Brackland begins his Chronicle of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds and covers the period up to 1202. He tells how the merchants of London wished to be free from payment of tolls in St Edmund's market. They claimed this right under a Charter of Henry II but Abbot Samson insisted that the King's Charter did not apply in St Edmund's town because of a prior grant to the saint by Edward the Confessor. The London Merchants stay away for 2 years in protest.
1201	King John issued a charter forbidding any other market or fair to be held within the area of the Liberty of St Edmund (the pre 1974 boundaries of the County of West Suffolk). From 1201-1300 was a peak period for new markets and 47 new ones arose in Suffolk, presumably mostly outside the Liberty. However, this Charter was won only with difficulty and at a cost of 40 marks. The king had given a charter to the monks of Ely whereby they could hold a market at Lakenheath, on condition that it did not harm neighbouring markets. This conflicted with the abbot's existing rights within the Liberty of St Edmund, granted in 1044 by King Edward the Confessor and confirmed by Henry I. Thus "on the promise of a mere 40 marks", the king issued the new charter and ordered the market at Lakenheath to close. The Chronicle of Jocelin of Brackland explains how the king wrote to his Justiciar to discontinue the Lakenheath market. The Justiciar wrote this to the Sheriff of Suffolk, who, knowing that he could not enter the Liberty of St Edmund, or exercise any power there, ordered the abbot by writ to implement the king's command. The bailiff of the hundred went to carry this out but was met by insults and injuries. The abbot then sent six hundred well armed men who destroyed stalls and seized livestock. This illustrates the jealousy with which market rights were protected because of the importance of the income they could generate. Also in 1201 the Abbot of Flay visited our abbey from France. He was promoting a new crusade and was travelling around England also preaching against Sunday trading. Abbot Sampson agreed with him that all the market trading which took place on Sundays would be transferred to Tuesdays.
1235	The Abbot of Bury was granted the right to hold an annual Trinity Fair at Long Melford, which was in the area of the Liberty.
1272	Henry III grants a charter for an annual Fair with tolls to be paid to the Abbot. This was St Matthews Fair held in late September to early October, and today known as the Bury Fair. It lasted annually until 1866. It may well have spent all this period located on the Angel Hill.
1295	Description of market layout in street rental.
1384	A Tuesday market begins at Ixworth.
1539	Dissolution of the Abbey. Control over the market passed to the Crown.
1563	Tolls of markets and fairs leased by the crown for 21 years to Thomas Andrews.
1583	The Guildhall Feoffees raised money to build "a very fayer large house for cornesellers." The exact site is not known. It is believed to have burned down in 1608.
1589	At this date it appears that the fairs and markets in Bury have been leased to Sir William Drury of Hawstead Place. This is evidenced by the commission for the inquisition after his death to enquire into the annual value of his estates. The enquiry found that "Roger Reve of Bury, gent, holds, by lease, (from Drury - ed) the profits of the fayres and markets in Bury, at £36 a year's rent, 40s deductions."
1595	The markets and fairs, tolls and other rights were leased by the crown to Sir Nicholas Bacon.
1601	Sir Nicholas Bacon assigned this lease to Sir Robert Drury of Hawstead.
1604	A fresh lease for 40 years was made to Sir Robert Drury by the Crown.
1606	James I's first charter of Incorporation. The Alderman was granted the office of clerk of the market. The Borough Council was granted the power to make byelaws.
1607	The Borough made its first byelaws. These included byelaws "For the better ordering of the market" and "For usage of the Faires and Markets by strangers".