The Totnes Elizabethan Market runs every Tuesday from May through September in Market Square, with stallholders dressed in Elizabethan costume to honour the royal charter granted to Totnes by Queen Elizabeth I in 1596. The market opens in early May (typically the first Tuesday after the May Bank Holiday) and continues weekly until late September.
The specific 2027 opening date has not yet been announced - check the Totnes Elizabethan Society Facebook page or local Totnes information sources for confirmation in spring 2027.
Visitor information
Dates: Every Tuesday from May to September, 9am-3pm. Opening typically early May, closing late September.
Venue: Market Square (also known as Civic Square) in central Totnes.
Admission: Free to visit. The market is a charity fundraiser - purchases and donations support local good causes.
Stall rental: Traders can apply to run stalls through the Totnes Elizabethan Society. Rent is £7.50 per stall, with an Elizabethan dress code requirement.
Getting there: Totnes lies on the A385 between Newton Abbot and Kingsbridge in South Devon. The market square is in the town centre, a short walk from Totnes railway station and town centre car parks.
What to expect
If you walk into Totnes on a Tuesday morning between May and September, you’ll find something quietly unusual taking place in the Market Square. The traders are dressed as Elizabethans in doublets, ruffs, leather jerkins, embroidered caps and period costume. It’s not a re-enactment and not a one-off festival - it’s a weekly market run by the Totnes Elizabethan Society in honour of the 1596 royal charter.
Stalls sell knitted goods, jewellery, local crafts, handmade items and gifts. All stalls are run by volunteers in costume, with profits going to local charities. The opening week is usually marked with a small civic ceremony, and the closing week sees the total charity amount announced.
Totnes had been a chartered market town since the 12th century, but the 1596 charter from Elizabeth I confirmed and renewed its civic privileges including market rights. The Elizabethan Society was founded in the 20th century to celebrate this period and raise money for the community through the summer market.
The market has the warm, slightly homespun feel of a genuine town tradition rather than a heritage tourism product. It sits alongside Totnes’s other markets - the Friday and Saturday general market in the Civic Hall, the monthly Food Market on third Sundays, and the December Christmas Market.
Where to stay
Totnes and the surrounding South Hams offer a range of accommodation. Browse places to stay near Totnes and in South Devon villages.
