An early use was as the Horse Market and the Carlisle Patriot, 22 March 1817, stated, “The workmen are busily employed in levelling the new Horse Market which will soon be open to the public.” It was possible to run horses up and down the street to show their capabilities. The Poultry Market was moved there from Devonshire street. The Carlisle Journal advertised in October 1843 that the Pork Market would re-commence on Saturdays in Lowther Street. A Butchers Market was built as an arcade in 1844 on a confined site between the Aethenaeum and the Congregational Church.
There were concerns over the inconvenience of the Horse Market and in 1862 it was moved to Swifts Row. The other markets survived the opening out of the street and were only removed to the Covered Market in 1900. With a cattle market on Botchergate and another on the Sands it was a common sight to see livestock being driven along Lowther Street in the 1920s.
Much more about the history of Lowther Street can be found in a new book on the History of Lowther Street, by Denis Perriam, to be published in October 2022 by myself. It should be available in Bookends, Tullie House and on my website: p3publications.com.
David Ramshaw
