Location: Temple Court, Union Street

Bacup Market is the town’s main modern market and has been a central part of the town centre since the early 1970s. It replaced the original Victorian market hall as Bacup’s primary trading space, reflecting changes in how people shopped and how the town centre functioned.

Located close to St James Square, the market was designed as a more practical, enclosed facility suited to year-round trading. It became the focus of Bacup’s market activity at a time when many traditional outdoor and hall-based markets were in decline across the country.

For decades, Bacup Market has supported a core group of long-standing local traders and continues to serve as a place for everyday shopping rather than destination retail. It provides regular footfall into the town centre and remains an important part of Bacup’s social fabric, particularly for residents who value face-to-face trade and familiar stallholders.

In recent years, Bacup Market has also become central to plans for town-centre regeneration. Proposals for the wider Temple Court area include the development of a new market hall and public space, aiming to modernise the market’s role while keeping its traditional function as a place to trade, meet and socialise.

Today, Bacup Market stands at the point where tradition and change meet. It represents both continuity in Bacup’s trading history and an opportunity to reimagine how markets can support a modern town centre.