THE FACE OF almost every shopping centre has changed down the years, partly in response to people’s changing shopping habits, partly to counter the competition from out-of-town retail parks, mail order and internet shopping, and partly to tap into an affluence undreamt of in the first sixty years of the last century. Castle Cary has fortunately been spared the nearby presence of a large supermarket and still boasts a multiplicity of independent retailers selling high-quality goods and offering friendly personal service. There are few signs here of the dull uniformity of most of the national chains. Among Castle Cary’s numerous independent businesses are gift shops including the renowned Needful Things, ladieswear boutiques, a long-established Wine Wizzard, the recentlyopened Wonderful Garden Company, a store hiring and selling all manner of vintage items, and even art galleries! Self-sufficiency and prosperity are
14 THE VISITOR November 2020
Market House, Castle Cary.
evident in the range and quality of the town’s many shops and the weekday hustle and bustle on High Street, Fore Street and Woodcock Street. Butcher, baker, greengrocer, ironmonger, bookseller, grocers, delicatessen and more can all be found in the centre, and on Tuesday mornings a street market is held at the Market House. So Cary is an ideal town to
scour for gifts for any occasion – even Christmas! When buying gifts I look for those old-fashioned virtues – quality, originality and value for money – and those are what I found in abundance. I saw so many gift ideas that this article could end up as little more than a long list, and even then I would probably have failed to mention something special. Whatever you’re seeking, the chances are
that you can buy it in Castle Cary. And when you’re windowshopping in the town it’s worth remembering that until the late 18th century most of the properties in Cary were twostorey, built of rough local stone and thatched – the front part of the George Hotel remains as an example. And behind the 19th and 20th century facades of some of the town centre shops are buildings dating from earlier centuries, especially on busy Fore Street that stretches from the Market Place to the horsepond and is lined with a broad range of small shops. Development and the changes it brings are nothing new in Cary. The mid and late 19th century gave the town not only a lot of new housing, shops, factories, the gas works and the railway station but also many prominent and much-loved buildings including the Market House. And by that time the town had already spread tentacles of development towards Ansford. Now, in the current century, the town is expanding
