400-year-old decree blocks new market

A New farmers’ market has been banned at the 11th hour under a 400-year-old law.

Traders had planned to set out their stalls in Enfield tomorrow, selling wild game, pastries, goat’s cheese, fruit, vegetables and fresh bread from the nearby Capel Manor College’s farm atGrade I-listed Forty Hall.

But a charter passed by King James I, after Enfield Town Market was established in 1618, decreed that no other markets are allowed within a six-and-a-half mile radius of the town square. The market was booked without checking the rules, which are enforced by Old Enfield Charitable trust.

Karen Mercer, who runs a coffee shop, said: “Rather than competing, both markets should be working together.”