Uppingham: Market Traditions and Walking Routes

Uppingham combines market traditions with several distinct ways to explore the town on foot. When planning your trip, you can choose between a guided heritage walk through the town, a long circular walking route with Uppingham at its geographical centre, and a walk with a set start and end point. The market and feast days offer further reasons to engage with the town.

Explore Uppingham on Foot

The Uppingham Heritage Trail is a guided walk through Uppingham’s heritage. Its map marks 20 places, and seven information boards are positioned along the route. These figures refer to different things: marked places and boards along the route. This makes the trail a guided walk around the town, distinct from a long circular walking route.

The Uppingham Round is an approximately 80-mile circular walking route with Uppingham at its geographical centre. It passes through the districts of Harborough (Leicestershire), Corby (Northamptonshire) and East Northamptonshire. The Uppingham 5 Mile Walk begins and ends at the Market Place. These routes therefore have different points of reference: the Round centres on Uppingham’s position within a route through three districts, while the Market Place is both the start and finish of the 5 Mile Walk. Route conditions and waymarking can change; check them before your walk.

Market and Feast Days

Uppingham Feast Day takes place annually and includes food stalls on the High Street. The programme and arrangements may vary between editions, so check the dates and details for the year you plan to visit. Uppingham’s Friday market includes bakers, farmers and cheesemakers. Individual stalls may vary. Thus, the Feast Day focuses on the food stalls on the High Street, while the groups of traders represented at the Friday market offer a different perspective on market life.

Historical Landmarks

Uppingham has held a market charter since 1281, giving its market tradition a long historical lineage. Another thread of the town’s history can be found at the Little Crooked House in Hopes Yard, number 4. It is considered Uppingham’s oldest continuously inhabited residential house; only the parish church can be identified as an older building. The market charter and the house therefore point to different aspects of the town’s history.

The history of the Uppingham Christmas Fatstock Show can also be placed in context: a committee of local farmers revived it in 1949 after it had been suspended for ten years during the Second World War and rationing. The revival and the preceding interruption form the historical core of the event’s story.

Plan Your Stay

When looking for a hotel in Uppingham, you can first decide what matters most to you: market traditions and Feast Day, a guided heritage walk or a walking route. The walks offer different points of reference: Uppingham as the geographical centre of the Round, and the Market Place as the start and finish of the 5 Mile Walk. This lets you shape your trip around the themes you actually want to include.

More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Oakham, Seaton, Lyddington, Cottesmore, Clipsham, Langham, North Luffenham, Ashwell.

For the overview of the wider area: Rutland.