Pitsea's market tradition began in the 1920s, when an undercover market was established beside Station Lane. Historical property records place the market there by April 1924, while other local histories describe the first Pitsea Market as opening in 1925. The slight difference reflects the way early records describe the establishment and opening of the market, but both place its beginnings firmly in the middle of the 1920s.
The location made sense for the growing Pitsea of the period. Station Lane connected the High Road with Pitsea railway station, putting the market close to trains, local shops, the Broadway and the main road through the settlement. This was decades before the modern road system, retail parks and New Town redevelopment changed the area beyond recognition.
The original market belonged to an era when markets were an important source of everyday goods. Rather than being simply an occasional attraction, a market could compete directly with local shops by offering clothing, food, household necessities and inexpensive general merchandise. Customers could compare prices between traders, buy fresh produce and find items that were not always stocked by the permanent shops nearby.
Charles Love is recorded as the auctioneer associated with the early undercover market. The market became part of the commercial district that grew around Station Lane, the High Road and the Broadway as Pitsea expanded during the inter-war and post-war years.
Station Lane was once a through route to the railway station rather than the shortened road familiar from later years. Around it stood shops, houses and businesses, while the market entrance brought additional shoppers into the area. The nearby war memorial stood at the head of the junction from 1928 until it was moved to Howard Park in 1969.
The market therefore formed part of a much wider shopping environment. Visitors could combine a market trip with the permanent businesses along Station Lane and the Broadway. The railway also made the centre accessible from beyond the immediate neighbourhood.
Complete pitch-by-pitch lists for every year of the first market have not survived in the sources used for this history, so it would be misleading to invent a definitive list of traders. What is clear is that Pitsea developed the character of a traditional general market: practical goods, clothing, food and household merchandise were central to the type of trade that later continued at the domed and Northlands markets.
By the 1960s Pitsea was being reshaped by major road construction. The A13 Vange and Pitsea bypass and the continuation of East Mayne as South Mayne required new flyovers, a roundabout and connecting roads. Station Lane was shortened and the old market site lay in the path of this transformation.
The original market therefore closed at this location in 1969. Rather than ending the market tradition, the redevelopment produced one of the most distinctive chapters in Pitsea history: the market moved across the High Road to Howard's Field and into four enormous purpose-built domes.