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The Covered Market in Earl Street, Preston, Lancashire, England is a Grade II listed〔(British Listed Buildings )〕 landmark structure built 1870-75. ==Early proposals== It was in 1837 that Preston Corporation first turned its thoughts to the provision of a covered market and "appointed a committee to procure plans, estimates, etc.".〔Hardwick, Charles, ''History of Preston'' 1857 Page 307〕 Certainly Council minutes and local press comment show Preston was experiencing some problems with its market provision (In 1841-2 the fish market was moved to a covered area adjacent to the corn exchange and ‘moveable stalls’ were restricted on Preston’s streets). By 1841 the Corporation "appeared seriously disposed to erect a covered market".〔Hardwick 1857 Pg 307〕 Three sites were proposed, east of the present market place, Lune Street, and "the Orchard" (from which the current street name derives, and was the main open space of the town where most outdoor events and annual fairs were held). But in February 1842, the proposals were rejected, the given reason being the strain on the corporation finances caused by the Ribble Navigation. (In this same year, the Corporation had to borrow £12,000 from the Treasury to pay off debts incurred by the Navigation improvements.) A covered market remained a talking point. In 1846, the ''Preston Guardian'' went so far as to propose that "the space allotted to the corn market has always been much larger than was needed"〔Preston Guardian 14 March 1846 Page 2〕 and that the Corn Exchange should be remodelled to create a new covered market. Plans resurfaced in 1848 and the municipal authorities again resolved to obtain all the necessary surveys, plans and valuations, and to seek to finance the new covered market by a local act in Parliament for "a sum not exceeding £40,000 upon the security of such market and the tolls, stallage, etc., to be received therein".〔 The chosen site was to be between Lune Street, Friargate, Fishergate and the Old Market Place (a location almost identical to that currently occupied by St George's Shopping Centre) and an outline plan, showing dimensions of at the Lune Street end, by , by at the Market Place, was published in the local press.〔Preston Guardian 13 May 1848 Page 5〕 However, once again other projects took priority and the council voted down the proposal on the grounds that the corporation's resources were, at the time, "sufficiently taxed by the improvements in progress".〔Hardwick, ''Charles "History of Preston"'' 1857〕 Over the thirty year period from the idea of a covered market first being mooted, to its final construction, Preston Corporation was undertaking a huge and costly range of civic improvement. It addition to the Port of Preston (including the construction of bonded warehouses and a customs house), Avenham Walk, Oxheys cattle market, Saul Street baths and Town Hall were all constructed and work was planned on the new home for the Shepherd Library (which would eventually become the Harris Library and Museum). In the early 1850s, plans were once again well advanced, to the extent that the Council itself published a map and plan of the new covered market, whose location was now to be in "The Orchard", in November 1851.〔Preston Miscellaneous Maps, Harris Library, Preston〕 But again they ended in "doing nothing".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Covered Market, Preston」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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