Thirsk market has been held on the cobbled square since 1145. Every Monday and Saturday the stalls go up outside our windows, and the town is at its best and busiest. We watch it set up twice a week, which is the only qualification this guide has.
Which day to come
They are not the same day.
Saturday is the full one. More stalls, more people, and the square is properly busy from about ten until two. It is the market to come for if you are making a trip of it.
Monday is smaller and easier. Fewer stalls, more room to move, and you can actually stand and talk to whoever is behind the table. If you dislike crowds, or you are pushing a pram, or you just want to buy vegetables without queueing, come on a Monday.
Both start early and both thin out through the afternoon. By three the traders are packing and the square is mostly cobbles again.
Come early, eat first
We open at 8:30 on Saturdays rather than 9, because market traders need feeding before anybody else turns up. That half hour is the quietest and best time to be in here all week.
Parking is the thing people get wrong. Marage Road is the largest car park and about five minutes from the square, and it fills by mid-morning on a Saturday. Millgate is closer and fills sooner. There is no secret third option, so if you are coming on a Saturday, come before ten or come on foot. Full parking and directions are on the visit page.
Breakfast first, then browse. It sounds obvious and almost nobody does it.
The circuit
The market itself takes about an unhurried hour. Produce, plants, hardware, fabric, and the usual scattering of things you did not know you needed. It is a working market rather than a craft market, which is worth knowing if you were expecting the latter.
Then the shops around it, which is where the square earns its keep:
Kristina's on Kirkgate is two minutes away and stocks Fairtrade and UK-made gifts. It is the one to go to if you need to buy something for somebody and you have left it late.
The charity shop trail really is five shops within a minute of each other. The antiques and book shelves reward patience, and on a market Saturday the stock turns over faster because people drop things off on their way in.
The White Rose Book Cafe at the head of the square is a bookshop with a tea garden behind it, and an award-winning one. We are not going to pretend to be neutral about the tea part, but the books are good.
When your feet complain
That is what we are for. Lunch runs 11:30 to 14:30, there is cake in the cabinet all day, and we are open until four.
If the weather is behaving, the riverside walk along Cod Beck is two minutes from the square and flat the whole way. Twenty minutes down and back is enough to reset your legs before the drive home. It can flood after heavy rain, so look at it before committing.
What to buy
Produce and plants are the reliable ones, and the plant stalls are worth a look before you drive to a garden centre. Fabric and haberdashery turn up most weeks. Cheese and eggs come and go depending on who is trading.
What you will not find is a farmers' market in the modern sense. There is no artisan sourdough stall and no street food. This is a working market that has been running for nine hundred years and it sells the things people actually need, which is either the appeal or the disappointment depending on what you came for.
The honest warning
Saturday is our busiest day of the week by a distance, and Monday is not far behind the rest. Eleven to two is the pinch point, and we have 24 seats. If there are six or more of you, book a table rather than turning up and hoping.
And if you want afternoon tea on a market Saturday, book it. You can come any time from 12 to 3, on the hour or half past, and most of those times land squarely in that pinch.
