ABSTRACT
For centuries the high street was pretty much all there was to Skipton – a wide street running from the gates of the castle with a market charter dating back to 1203. Archaeological finds from Northern Europe, dating back 30,000 years, include shells from the Mediterranean. The consumer society brought with it a revolution in the design of retail premises. Middle-class shoppers demanded pavements where they were protected from traffic, mud and other unpleasantness. The 19th century also saw the use of cast iron technology to build large indoor markets, which were aimed at a very different type of clientele. Many of the retail chains that came to dominate town centres in the 20th century can trace back their roots to the great Victorian retail boom. The pinnacle of the 19th-century retail revolution was the department store. Oxford Street was once a muddy track along which convicts were paraded to the gallows at Tyburn.
