All the Fun of the Fair - Nottingham's Markets
Nottingham had two markets including the large Saturday Market. There were also many fairs that came to town, with all the fun and frivolity that they would bring.
Markets
The Anglo-Saxon borough of Nottingham was centred on St Mary's Hill and the church of St Mary. This borough had its own market at the Weekday Cross. This would be where all the traders from the town would have come to sell their goods - butchers, smiths, cloth merchants and craftsmen.
With the establishment of the Norman borough centred on the Castle, a new market place developed between the two boroughs. This huge area became a major centre for buying and selling in Nottingham and where the town's great Saturday Market was held. This is now the site of the Old Market Square in the centre of modern Nottingham.
Although the Saturday Market had probably been held for many years before, it was Henry II's charter of c 1155 which granted the burgesses or townspeople of Nottingham the right to hold a market in the town on Saturdays. The market would have been the main focal point for miles around and the whole town would have been bustling with activity.
The charter of c 1155 also allowed the burgesses to set up a Piepowder Court. Any traders or visitors from outside the town who were caught stealing at the markets or any of the town's fairs could be tried and punished by the burgesses.
Over time many stalls were erected in the market place, some of them two storeys high. The market place also saw the addition of the Hen Cross, the Butter Cross and the Malt Cross, and the town's stocks and pillories. The buildings along Long Row on the north side of the market place were well-sited for all the commercial activity in the town centre and the yards climbing the hill behind them were full of workshops, stables and outbuildings.
Read about the spices sold in the market [PDF 19KB] 
Fairs
There were a number of fairs held in Nottingham.
- Nottingham Fair started on the feast of St Matthew the Apostle - 21 September - and lasted for a week. Its origins are uncertain but it was already in existence by 1284 when the charter of Edward I mentions it. This became known as Goose Fair, its name perhaps derived from the geese that were driven to the fair
- A second Nottingham Fair was granted in the 1284 charter. This fair, beginning on St Edmund's Day - 19 November - lasted for 15 days
- The Lenton Fair was Lenton Priory's Fair held in the week beginning 11 November. The priory had obtained the right to hold a fair in 1164 and was a symbol of its importance. However, Nottingham's second fair, granted in 1284, clashed with the Lenton Fair, so in 1378 Richard II moved Nottingham's second fair to 22 February.
Sometimes there was conflict between the burgesses of Nottingham and the priory over the Lenton Fair. In 1300 it was agreed that, whilst this eight-day fair took place in November, there could be no market in the town. Consequently, much income was lost. In 1516 it was agreed that, whilst no market would be held in the town during the Lenton Fair, the Priory would pay 20 shillings a year to the town and Nottingham's burgesses would have preferential treatment in terms of the tolls they paid and the stalls they could have.
Read the agreement of 1300 here [PDF 25KB]
The fairs were times of great activity and entertainment as well as buying and selling. It is possible that there would have been jugglers, acrobats and dancers. They were part of the many entertainments that occurred in the town. Other entertainment would have included the guilds' annual pageants and celebrations, such as the Guild of St George's annual breakfast, a sometimes lively affair held in the Franciscan's Great Hall; and music playing.
At Nottinghamshire Archives
Nottinghamshire Archives holds the following records relating to Lenton Fair:
- Copy agreement between the prior of Lenton and the burgesses of Nottingham concerning Lenton Fair, c 1300 (reference: CA 4672)
- Agreement between the priory of Lenton and the mayor and sheriffs of Nottingham regarding tolls and stallage to be taken at Lenton Fair, with a schedule of rents paid by strangers (i.e. people who were not burgesses) for shops, stalls and booths, 1516 (reference: CA 4568)
- The annual breakfast of the Guild of St George is mentioned in the accounts of the guilds of St George and St Mary at St Peter's, 1459-1541 (reference: PR 21,599). There is a transcription of these accounts (reference: M399) and a translation and account of them in the Thoroton Society Records Series Volume 7 (1939)
There are records relating to markets and fairs and the regulation of trade. These include accounts, lists, petitions and law suits and leases, c 1500-1835 (reference: CA various). Many references to the markets and fairs will be found in the records of the Borough Court.
The two Nottingham fairs are mentioned in the charter of Edward I of 1284. This charter has not survived. A copy exists on the Charter Rolls at The National Archives: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Nottinghamshire Archives holds a copy of this Charter Roll (reference: CA 4191).
Illustrations
Top right: court action regarding the value of spices, wax and soap, sold in the market, 1436 (reference: CA 1328).
Middle right: agreement between the prior of Lenton and the burgesses of Nottingham concerning Lenton Fair, c 1300 (reference: CA 4672).
