FAIRS AND MARKETS.
A weekly market on
Friday and an annual fair on the vigil, feast, and
morrow of All Saints (1 Nov.) was granted to Walter
Pavely, lord of the manor of Westbury, in 1252. (fn. 61)
In 1291 a further grant was made to the lord of the
manor of a market on Tuesday, and a fair on the
vigil, and feast of the Translation of St. Benedict
(11 July), and the five following days. (fn. 62) Six years
later Walter Pavely petitioned that the date of this
fair might be altered to the vigil, and feast of St.
John before the Latin Gate (6 May), and this
change was made. (fn. 63)
When the lands of Sir John Pavely were divided
after his death in 1361, the profits of fairs and
markets were divided between his heirs. One half
thus went to the lords of the manor of Brook, and
the other was presumably divided between the two
daughters of John St. Lo who inherited the manor
of Westbury with its appurtenant hamlets. (fn. 64) In
1460 a market on Thursdays, and three annual
fairs were granted to Thomas Seymour, Katharine
Chidiock, and John Willoughby, lords of the manors
of Westbury Seymour, Westbury Arundell, and
Brook respectively. One fair was to be on the vigil,
day, and morrow of St. George (23 Apr.), the
second on Whit Monday and the Tuesday and
Wednesday following, and the third on the vigil,
day, and morrow of the Exaltation of the Holy
Cross (14 Sept.). Disputes and matters arising out
of the market and fairs were to be dealt with in a
special court set up by the grantees and held by a
steward appointed by them. (fn. 65) In 1515 a market at
Westbury on Fridays was granted to Robert
Willoughby, Lord de Broke (d. 1521) presumably
in place of the former Thursday market. The
Whitsun fair was retained, and other fairs were
granted for the Monday before the Nativity of
St. John the Baptist (24 June), the day of the
Translation of St. Edward the Confessor (13 Oct.),
and the Friday before the beginning of Lent. A
piepowder court was also confirmed. (fn. 66)
Leland in c. 1540 described Westbury market as
a small one. (fn. 67) In 1673 it was still held on Fridays,
and was said to be 'very considerable for corn', (fn. 68)
and in 1751 it was called a 'good one for corn'. (fn. 69)
The market was still being held on Fridays in
1792, (fn. 70) but some time before 1835 it was changed
to Tuesday in the hope of making it more convenient as a corn market. (fn. 71) The presentation of a
Market Hall in 1815 by Sir Manasseh Massey Lopes,
lord of the manor, (fn. 72) may also have been made in the
hope of stimulating trade. Attempts to maintain
the market, however, failed, and in 1835 trade was
said to have passed to Warminster, and the Westbury market was described as purely nominal. (fn. 73) By
1876 the market had become extinct. (fn. 74)
In 1751 the Whitsun fair and the fair held at the
beginning of Lent were still being held, (fn. 75) and by
1825 an Easter fair had been introduced. (fn. 76) The profits of this, like those of the fair at the beginning
of Lent, belonged to the lord of the manor, but the
profits of the Whitsun fair belonged to the mayor. (fn. 77)
By 1835 the fair at the beginning of Lent had been
discontinued and in 1880 the Whitsun fair was said
to consist of no more than one or two gingerbread
stalls, (fn. 78) and by 1888 it had been discontinued. (fn. 79)
In 1792 a fair was held at Dilton Marsh annually
on Easter Monday and 13 September, (fn. 80) and in
1888 a fair at Dilton Marsh on 24 September and
a fair at Westbury on the first Tuesday in September were the only fairs being held. (fn. 81) The Westbury fair survived for the first few years of the 20th
century but by then it was being much criticised
for the trouble it caused. (fn. 82) At the end of the 19th
century there was also a sheep fair on Bratton Down.
Some 20,000 sheep were brought to this fair in the
early 20th century, but by 1914 the numbers had
dwindled and the fair did not survive the First
World War. (fn. 83)
All profits accruing from the markets and fairs,
except from the mayor's fair, continued to belong
to the lord of the manor until the market and fairs
became extinct.