Cattle Market Auction Building
CATTLE MARKET AUCTION BUILDING, A68
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1232513
- Date first listed:
- 05-Jun-1987
- List Entry Name:
- Cattle Market Auction Building
- Statutory Address:
- CATTLE MARKET AUCTION BUILDING, A68
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 1999-09-05
- Reference:
- IOE01/00654/22
- Rights:
- © Mr Bob Cottrell. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1232513
- Date first listed:
- 05-Jun-1987
- List Entry Name:
- Cattle Market Auction Building
- Statutory Address 1:
- CATTLE MARKET AUCTION BUILDING, A68
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- CATTLE MARKET AUCTION BUILDING, A68
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- County Durham (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Tow Law
- National Grid Reference:
- NZ 12072 39067
Details
TOW LAW NZ 13 NW A68 (East side)
23/309 Cattle Market Auction Building 05-JUN-1987 II
Cattle market auction building constructed in 1882.
MATERIALS: Wood with Welsh slate roof with glazed roof lights.
PLAN: 12-sided plan.
EXTERIOR: sides of battened boards with doors of similar construction in the north-west side to admit animals and a small boarded-shuttered opening in the south-west. The west side contains the auctioneer's office door and 2 sash windows with glazing bars, now boarded. The roof is conical roof of 12 sides and has a row of large square lights, most with glazing bars, near the centre.
INTERIOR: is entered through a small lobby with door to auctioneer's room on the left and door to main animal ring on the right. The centrally placed animal ring has a concrete floor with replacement scales at the western end. There are 3 tiers of wood benches behind a low wooden fence supplemented by a later steel rail, from which rise the rustic wooden roof supports. The auctioneer's desk is on the west side.
HISTORY: By the mid nineteenth century the long-distance, cross-border droving was being supplanted by the growth of the railways, whilst the historic animal fairs were gradually replaced by auction marts located beside railway stations. This former auction building is the only surviving part of a formerly larger livestock market situated in the centre of Tow Law immediately to the east of the High Street and adjacent to the former railway station. The auction building was built in c.1882 as a cattle market and it is depicted on the Ordnance Survey map of 1897. At this time, there are several other market buildings and animal pens. Successive OS maps show that the basic configuration of the cattle market remained unchanged until the later C20 when the mart was incorporated unaltered into a larger complex. The building closed in 2005.
SOURCES:Tow Law Cattle Market Auction Building 2008, Fairhurst; Alan Rushworth & Ian Roberts: The Drovers Project, The Historical and Archaeological Background 2005 Northumberland National Park Authority.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: This auction mart is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* it is a good and intact example of this characteristic form of Border auction mart which reflects the importance of the wider agricultural economy
* the survival of a complete interior including animal ring, seating and auctioneers desk is of significant interest Listing NGR: NZ1207239067
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 407663
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 17-Jun-2026 at 02:42:04.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.