From The Warminster Official Guide And Souvenir 1928 (penned by Victor Strode Manley):
The new market –
This venture of 1922 was the outcome of mutual co-operation between the auctioneers, farmers and G. W. R. (who ran a siding into it), and financed by the Urban Council. At its inception the Marquis of Bath auctioned the first beast. In its equipment it ranks second to none, having its ground concreted and sloped towards runnels, allowing effective scouring. When it was the Fair Field, the ground was merely dug to form parallel ridges on which the sheep and cattle were penned with hurdles, the buyers walking in the slush of the dips.
An interesting spectacle is presented here on alternate Mondays, on which days the hotels keep open to 4 p.m. The cattle are either unloaded from railway trucks or driven along roads made for the purpose of avoiding the town. The clanging of the auctioneer’s bell soon collects a large group of farmers and dealers from a wide area around the rostrum, where the serious business of selling is done briskly. No longer is corn seen in the sacks, but sold from samples, and a commodious “Market and Corn Exchange” is now being erected on the ground by the Council. Cattle, porkers, dairy and garden produce, and agricultural machinery are the chief items, most of the sheep changing hands on the native downs for convenience at the various hill fairs. Three firms of auctioneers operate in the market.