Thame’s weekly market has been operating since around 1183, with a royal charter being granted in 1215. The basic layout of the town centre (and names such as Buttermarket and Cornmarket) date back to this time.

A Market (or Moot) hall, with shops underneath, is first recorded in 1509. It was substantially repaired in 1684 with the addition of an upper storey with a tiled roof, and a tiled arcade below. It housed the courts and had a gallows and set of stocks outside. This building was demolished by the end of the 19th century.

The building currently known as Thame market

house (the CAB building and public toilets) was built in the 18th century, first serving as an Inn and later a Wesleyan chapel, before becoming commercial premises in the 1870s, and the market house around 1905.