cotswolds08 Stow-on-the-Wold A royal charter of 1107 granted the Abbey of Evesham the right to hold a weekly market. A thriving trade in sheep, hops and cheese soon developed and by the 18th century over 20,000 sheep could be sold on a good day. The base and shaft of the medieval cross survives, around which the temporary market stalls would have been set up. Over time these were replaced by more permanent shops, and the buildings enclosing the square today have facades dating from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, many hiding much earlier half-timbered structures.