The backdrop to the market and the village green is Axminster's church, or Minster. (Why is it called a minster?) From somewhere in this direction, under the trees, come strains of country-and-western song, a relaxing background of sound for the activities of the market. Could it actually be a live band?—no, it comes from a stall alongside the chancel of the church. There are two long tables of CDs, and the stallholder tells you he also has some "Irish, and light classical, and easy-listening".

To the left, a narrow street curls away around the church's east end, which nearly pinches it off. You make your exit in this direction, with the easy rhythms still throbbing in your ears, and still picking your way past the market stalls that extend back into this street.

Or, you may notice a sign for something else musical: the Thursday lunchtime concert, which will begin inside the church at twelve-thirty. Wondering whether the strains of Daniel O'Donnell or the Everly Brothers from outside will compete with the more studied chords from within, you follow a small stream of people through the porch in the middle of the church's north side.