page_title: Stowmarket
section_title: Landmarks
hierarchical_section_title: Stowmarket / Landmarks
caption_attribution_description: English: Church of St Peter and St Mary in Stowmarket, Suffolk, England. A Grade I listed medieval church.
context_page_description: Stowmarket is a small market town in Suffolk, England, on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edmunds to the west and Ipswich to the southeast. The town is on the main railway line between London and Norwich, and lies on the River Gipping, which is joined by its tributary, the River Rat, to the south of the town.
  The town takes its name from the Old English word stōw meaning "principal place", and was granted a market charter in 1347 by Edward III. A bi-weekly market is still held there today on Thursday and Saturday.
  The population of the town has increased from around 6,000 in 1981 to its current level of around 19,000, with considerable further development planned for the town and surrounding villages as part of an area action plan. It is the largest town in the Mid Suffolk district and is represented in parliament by the MP for Bury St Edmunds, currently Jo Churchill.
context_section_description: The church of St Peter and St Mary is in the Decorated style and dates to the 14th century. The 16th-century former vicarage, now the town council offices and register office, has associations with John Milton; Milton’s Tree in its grounds is believed to be an offshoot of one of the many trees he planted there.
  Haughley Park is an historical house of significance listed in the English Heritage Register. It is a large red brick country house built in about 1620 for the Sulyard family who were very prominent landowners in this area.
  Opened in 1967, the Museum of East Anglian Life occupies a 70-acre (28 ha) site close to the town centre.
  The Karnser is a raised pavement in Station Road West, next to the church. The name is the East Anglian dialect word caunsey, meaning a causey (causeway).
caption: Church of St Peter and St Mary
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