STOW-MARKET, a market-town and parish in the hundred of STOW, county of SUFFOLK,'12 miles (N. N.W.) from Ipswich, and, byway of that town, through which the mail travels, 81 (N.E.) from London, but only 75 through Sudbury; containing 2252 inhabitants. The adjunct was given to the name to distinguish the town from Stow-Upland, in the adjoining parish. It is the most central town in the county, is situated at the confluence of three rivulets, which form the river Gippen, ou the high road from Ipswich to Bury and Cambridge, and consists of several streets, which are, for the most part, regularly built and paved; many of the houses are handspme, especially those near the marketplace; and the inhabitants are well supplied with water from land-sprjngs and wells. The commercial interests of the town are essentially promoted by its locality, and have been much improved by making the Gippen navigable to Ipswich, which was effected under an act obtained in 1790. Over one of the tributary streams called the Orwell, which name the united streams as- sume from Ipswich to the sea at Harwich, is a bridge southward of the town. From the basin of this navigable river extends a pleasant walk, about a mile in length, chiefly through the hop plantations, with which the neighbourhood abounds. The trade consists chiefly in the making of malt, for which there are more than twenty houses, the manufacture being rapidly increasing; and the exportation of com, to a considerable extent, to London, Hull, Liverpool, and other places: there are also small manufactories for rope, twine, and sacking, and an iron-foundry. At Combs, about two miles distant, is a considerable tannery. By means of the navigation to Ipswich, grain and malt are conveyed thither, the returns consisting of timber, deals, coal, and slate, for the supply of the central parts of the county. The market is on Thursday, for corn, cattle, and provisions; fairs are held on August 12th, for cattle; July 10th, a pleasure fair; and in the month of September, for hops, cheese, butter, and cattle. The meetings for the nomination of the county members, from its- central situation, are generally held in this town; as is also a petty session of magistrates, every alternate Monday j and a manorial court baron is held annually. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Stow-Upland annexed, in the archdeaconry of Sndbury, and diocese of Norwich, rated in the king's books at £16. 15., and in the patronage of Miss Bevan. The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Mary, is a spacious and handsome edifice, in the centre of the town, partly in the decorated, and partly in the later, style of English architecture, with a square tower sur± mounted by a slender wooden spire of tasteful appearance, one hundred and twenty feet in height; the latter was erected from the proceeds of a legacy left for that purpose in the reign of Anne. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents. Some small benefactions are applied in teaching poor children. A large National school, for an unlimited number of chili dren of both sexes, and two Sunday schools, are supported by voluntary contributions. There are also several benevolent institutions for the relief of the poor, the funds arising from the same source. Abbots' hall, the seat of J. Rust, Esq., was formerly a cell, subor- dinate to the abbey of St. Osyth, in the county of Essex. In a stone pit near the entrance to the town, the tusks and bones of a species of elephant have been found; Here is a spring slightly impregnated with iron. Dr. Young, tutor to the poet Milton, was vicar of this pa- rish from 1630 to 1655, and was interred here.