Editing Stow-on-the-Wold (section)

===Early===
Stow-on-the-Wold, originally called Stow St Edward or Edwardstow after the town's patron saint Edward, probably [[Edward the Martyr]],<ref name="BHO">{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol6/pp142-165 |editor-last=Elrington |editor-first=C. R. |editor-link=Christopher Elrington |chapter=Parishes: Stow-on-the-Wold |date=1965 |title=A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 6 |location=London |publisher=[[Institute of Historical Research]] |pages=142–165 |via=[[British History Online]] |access-date=23 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090510091033/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66438 |archive-date=10 May 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> is said to have originated as an [[Iron Age]] [[fort]] on this defensive position on a hill. There are other sites of similar forts in the area, and [[Stone Age]] and [[Bronze Age]] [[burial mounds]] are common throughout the area. It is likely that [[Maugersbury]] was the primary settlement of the parish before Stow was built as a marketplace on the hilltop nearer to the crossroads, to take advantage of passing trade. Originally the small settlement was controlled by [[abbots]] from the local [[abbey]], and when the first weekly market was set up in 1107 by [[Henry I of England|Henry I]], he decreed that the proceeds go to [[Evesham Abbey]].<ref name="BHO"/>
[[File:St Edwards Church - Stow on th Wold.jpg|thumb|Ancient [[Taxus baccata|yew trees]] at the north porch of St Edward's Church]]
In 1330, a royal charter by [[Edward III]] set up an annual 7-day market to be held in August. The royal charter granted a fair where sheep and horses were allowed to be sold.<ref name="BHO"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Elder |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RQAnCgAAQBAJ |title=50 Gems of the Cotswolds: The History & Heritage of the Most Iconic Places |date=2015-07-15 |publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited |isbn=978-1-4456-4671-8 |language=en}}</ref> In 1476, [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]] replaced that with two 5-day fairs, two days before and two days after the feast of [[Philip the Apostle|St Philip]] and [[James the Just|St James]] in May, and similarly in October on the feast of [[Edward the Confessor]] (the saint associated with the town). The aim of the annual [[charter fair]]s was to establish Stow as a place to trade and alleviate the unpredictability of the passing trade. These fairs were located in the [[Town square|square]], which is still the town centre.<ref name="BHO" />