Market Harborough

School, Spire and High Street

The Old Grammar School stands in Church Square. Built in 1614, its first-floor schoolroom rests on ten octagonal posts above an open ground floor formerly used for market functions. Look up at the painted inscription recording Robert Smythe's foundation and endowment.

Beside it, the Grade I Church of St Dionysius began in the early thirteenth century. Much of the present building dates from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, including the tower and its crocketed broach spire. A large sundial faces south from the tower.

The High Street makes an easy link from Church Square into Market Harborough's older commercial centre.

From the High Street, continue towards the town's markets and food stops.

Markets, Farm Shop and Coaching Inns

Harborough Market stands on Northampton Road, with a food hall, general stalls and vintage, retro and antiques markets. The town received a royal market charter in 1204, and its Tuesday market began in 1221. The present indoor market was built in the 1990s.

Farndon Fields began with potatoes and vegetables sold from the farmhouse and has grown into a farm shop on the edge of town. Its own produce shares the shelves with locally sourced meat and British food; the Farmer's Kitchen and garden area make it a longer stop.

At the Three Swans, an ornate sign combines Georgian wrought iron with an earlier gallows-style structure, and the inn has welcomed travellers for at least 500 years. Low beams and an open fireplace recall its coaching-inn character. Two restaurants, a coffee house and a bar serve Modern British menus shaped by seasonal produce, while a courtyard offers another place to sit in warmer weather.

The Roebuck on Rockingham Road offers another pub meal, with burgers, curries and Sunday roasts on its menus. It has outdoor seating and welcomes dogs in its bar and beer garden.

High Street and the Canal Arm

The Sugar Loaf on the High Street occupies Thomas Goward's former grocery shop. Founded in 1810, the business cut sugar by hand from conical loaves and prepared tea, coffee and spices in a warehouse behind the shop.

The Market Harborough Arm is lock-free for just under six miles from town to Foxton. The canal follows the hillsides through east Leicestershire countryside.

Locks, Railway Paths and Great Bowden

At Foxton, ten locks form two groups of five and lift boats about 75 feet. This Grade II* flight is Britain's longest staircase flight. Beside it are the remains of the inclined plane, built in 1900 to carry boats in water-filled caissons; the canal museum tells more of its story. Expect a steep climb towards the top locks and patches of uneven ground.

For a different outing, the Brampton Valley Way follows a former railway for more than fourteen miles between Market Harborough and Northampton. Its hard-surfaced track is used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders, so a shorter out-and-back section is an option if the full route is too long.

Great Bowden, immediately north of Market Harborough, has an older story. Recorded as Bugedone in Domesday Book, it was the centre of a royal estate before the neighbouring market town grew. Its houses still gather around several greens, giving the village a distinct centre.

Treasure, Trains and Thomas Cook

Harborough Museum occupies the Symington Building on Adam and Eve Street. Its Hallaton Treasure Gallery displays more than 2,500 coins and a reconstructed first-century Roman cavalry helmet. The wider find, discovered near Hallaton in 2000, contained more than 5,000 coins.

Market Harborough station is served by East Midlands Railway, with links to Leicester and London. It is a short walk from the town centre, so a visit can begin with Church Square and continue to the market or canal.

Thomas Cook lived in Market Harborough when, during a walk to Leicester in June 1841, he conceived an idea for group travel by rail. Later that year he organised an excursion from Leicester to a temperance rally in Loughborough. Harborough District Council has announced plans for a statue and heritage trail to mark his connection to the town.