1579, when it was granted a Royal Charter by Elizabeth I due to the petitioning of Sir John Radclyffe of Ordsall who, as the largest landowner in Sandbach and the owner of the Sandbach Old Hall, encouraged the farmers of the area to hold a market in the town on Thursdays. The charter also allowed for right to establish a Court-leet and a Court of Pied-powder. The original charter is still preserved, and can be found in Chester; a reproduction can be found in the Sandbach Town Council chamber, which is at the Literary Institution. The charter also granted the town the right to hold two annual fairs, which lasted for two days, and were held around Easter and early September. The Thursday market is still held outdoors on Scotch Common, and in and around the town hall. 17th century to present day During the 17th century, the town used to be famous for its ale: And about 1621 William Webb writes that "Our ale here at Sandbach being no less famous than that [at Derby] of a true nappe". During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a Scottish army swept down into England before being forced to retreat at the Battle of Worcester. On 3 September 1651, the Sandbach summer fair was being held, and a Scottish army of around 1,000 exhausted cavalry men passed through the town under the command of David Leslie on their way back to Scotland. The town proved to be a difficult retreat route, however, as the people of Sandbach and the market stallholders attacked the Scottish army. A newspaper of the time said: The dispute was very hot for two or three houres, and there were some townsmen hurt and two or three slaine, the Townesman slew about nine or ten and tooke 100 prisoners. This was the only notable event of the Civil War to have happened in Sandbach. As the fair and the fight took place on the common of the town, after this event the common gained the name Scotch Common. In 1836 Sandbach silk mills employed 554 people, including 98 boys and girls under 12 years old. In 1801 the population was 1,844; by 1851 this had reached 4,659. The town centre is shown on an 1840 map. Sandbach became a civil parish in 1866. The records from 1901 show a population of 5,568. The Sandbach Corn Mill was