Middle Row was the heart of retail in Truro’s past, but is now long gone.

The row of buildings ran down the middle of Boscawen Street, beginning at Market House at King Street and continuing to the Town Prison in front of the Coinage Hall. Truro Borough owned most of the properties, which housed such traders as a Saddler, a Barker (for leather tanning), a Shoemaker and a Cooper.

Town burghers decided to demolish Middle Row,describing it as “dilapidated and ramshackle buildings”. The demolition let in more light and air and created the wider Boscawen Street we know today.

Click here for more information on Shopping: the way it was.