Market Towns: Cultural Heritage

Anna Dixon Excerpts

Tuesday 4th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Southend East and Rochford (Mr Alaba) on securing this debate. It is always a pleasure to speak about Strangford. We have constituency heritage across this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and our culture, while sometimes different, is worth celebrating.

Northern Ireland is rich in cultural heritage, and there is a list of market towns across my borough. In Strangford, I have Newtownards, Comber and Ballynahinch. These towns have historically hosted markets and continue to do so today. Newtownards market is run every Saturday by shop owner Clive O’Neill. The town of Comber hosts mini-markets, most notably Comber farmers’ market and the Comber earlies, which celebrates the town’s agricultural history. Comber is famous for the Comber spud, which we all know. Indeed, we are probably in awe of it, because it is definitely the best potato in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, if not further afield.

I am fortunate to have had a constituency office in Newtownards for some 26 years. I celebrate, respect and love the culture of my town, and all its unique historical attributes. Newtownards came into being in 1613 under James I. The town has much older roots, having been developed on the site of an older settlement. Its location on the Ards peninsula, where I live, means that it has always played a key role in growth, trade, agriculture and fishing.

[Anna Dixon (Shipley) (Lab)]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that market towns are a crucial part of our culture, not only here in England but in Northern Ireland, too. In my constituency, King John granted Bingley’s first market charter back in 1212 and the Bingley butter cross still stands to this day. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that thriving market towns are as vital to the future of our economy as they were to the past?

[Jim Shannon]

I absolutely agree, and I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. It is great to have history. I love history, which is one of my favourite subjects. Indeed, it was probably the only subject at school in which I excelled, but that is by the way.

The Stewarts erected the Market House, which is now the town hall, in 1765, and the bottom floor was used as a market. It is where I have my annual coffee morning for the Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association. The town hall also hosts numerous council-run events. Conway Square, a historical public seating area outside the town hall, has a statue of Paddy Mayne, demonstrating our rich history and ancestry, which we remember.

Market towns are crucial to our society and our local economy. When it seems that everything can be done online, market towns give us a real sense of community and allow face-to-face social contact, which is important. It is important for children and grandchildren, as those who once visited the market as children now return with their own families. In the towns I represent, it is often said, “Everybody knows everybody here.” Of course, that is absolutely true. At communal events and local markets, it is normal to say hello to the people we know from our town.

Market towns highlight our impressive nature, and their history is worth remembering. It is important to maintain that history, not just for the current generation but for future generations, including for my children, my grandchildren and—whenever they come—my great-grandchildren. It is the history of the fantastic towns in which we grew up.

I conclude by calling on the Government to engage further with their counterparts and with local councils and to commit to protecting the rich history of our towns, which adds greatly to the United Kingdom. Furthermore, Northern Ireland’s great market town history must be protected.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time, Sir Jeremy. I am pleased to be responding to this debate. I begin, of course, by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Southend East and Rochford (Mr Alaba) on securing it, especially on the eve of Heritage Day. I thought he made a really thoughtful speech, as have Members from parties across the House.

I will briefly respond to some of the questions that have been put to me, and I will go into a little more detail in my speech when time allows. There have been a number of questions from the shadow Minister and others, including my hon. Friend who secured the debate, about changes to the planning system for national and local buildings of importance and access to local services. They also asked about a strategy on heritage for market towns and mentioned a number of Departments. I will refer those questions to the Departments responsible. I have heard the questions and concerns.

My hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) asked about high streets, as did a number of Members, and live music venues. From the spring, a new £85 million creative foundations fund is available for urgent capital works to keep venues going. That was part of the arts everywhere fund, announced at the Jennie Lee lecture, which I will touch on later in my speech.

My hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Jim Dickson) referenced the devolution White Paper with specific reference to pubs. I was really pleased to speak at the British Beer and Pub Association event in Parliament a few weeks ago.

I look forward to meeting my Welsh counterparts— I believe my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) raised that point. I am very familiar with Abergavenny as my cousin grew up and went to school there. I look forward to visiting Cardiff soon. I meet my counterparts in the devolved nations very regularly.

I will turn to the substantive part of my speech, but go into more detail on those questions as part of that. Market towns are a proud part of our national story. My hon. Friend the Member for Southend East and Rochford, and other Members from across the House, are passionate advocates for everything that they represent. As he said, in the past, market towns might have been defined as places with a historic market or a market square and a royal charter, but they are more than that. They are part of how a community sees itself.

Every market town has its own unique character and story, and their importance goes beyond the cultural heritage and identity they give to an area. A bustling market or an iconic market square helps to support the economy of these towns in the here and now, drawing in tourists, supporting local trade and sustaining connections between local people.

I am very proud to represent Barnsley in South Yorkshire, a market town with a bustling indoor and outdoor market. My own constituency of Barnsley South is home to a number of historic market towns, including Hoyland, where my constituency office is located, and Wombwell, which dates all the way back to the Domesday Book.

I am not the Minister responsible for this area—that is the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda and Ogmore (Chris Bryant)—but as a Government, we want to see market towns thrive long into the future and we take the future of these places extremely seriously. In the previous Parliament, I chaired the all-party parliamentary group on industrial heritage. My hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (John Slinger) touched on that; perhaps he can pick up the mantle. Of course, that is a slightly different topic from today’s debate, but our work covered some aspects of market towns. By working with the likes of Historic England and visiting restored heritage sites, from the Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings—an incredible transformation—to Battersea power station just down the road, I saw at first hand how regeneration can keep culture alive while boosting the local community and economy in the here and now.

I plan to use my speech to bring together the various ways in which the Government are looking to support market towns and nurture the cultural heritage they represent. I will focus on the specific support that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport gives in this area, although of course it is a cross-Government endeavour, as a number of Members have reflected on; as I said, I will relay their questions to the Ministers responsible for the relevant areas.

Let me start with heritage funding. Members may have seen that we marked the 60th anniversary of the first ever arts White Paper. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport spoke about her determination to

“revive culture in places where it is disappearing,”

and the arts everywhere fund will provide £270 million for arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage. A significant part of how we plan to do that is by getting behind local community organisations—the groups that know their areas the best—that want to breathe fresh life into local heritage.

[Anna Dixon]

In our market square in Bingley, we have Bingley arts centre and, next to it, Bingley town hall, which is ripe for redevelopment. The community would love to make it into a creative arts centre. Will my hon. Friend ensure that I and members of the local community can meet the relevant Minister to see what opportunities there are to access the huge amount of funding that Ministers have announced for arts and culture?

[Stephanie Peacock]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s contribution. I drove through her constituency at the weekend. It is a beautiful part of the world, and I am very happy to offer a meeting with my hon. Friend the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism.

Through the heritage at risk capital fund and the heritage revival fund, we are making an extra £20 million of investment available to the sector, to repair our most at-risk heritage sites and support groups who are ready to bring derelict old buildings back into good use. The heritage at risk capital fund will account for £15 million from this spring, and it lives up to its name: it is all about providing grants for repairs and conservation for heritage buildings at risk, with a particular focus on those sites that need it most. It could help all sorts of different types of heritage—shops, pubs, parks and town halls.