MARKETS AND FAIRS
A market on Fridays was held in New Salisbury
for some years before the right to do so was obtained
in 1227. In 1219 the bishop gave the king a palfrey
for this privilege; (fn. 1) in December 1222 the sheriff
was authorized to allow the bishop to hold a market
in Salisbury until a month after Easter 1223, as had
been done formerly but had recently been prohibited. (fn. 2) Further grants continued this permission
period by period until a fortnight after Easter 1224. (fn. 3)
The city's charter of 1227 included the right to hold
a weekly market on Tuesdays. (fn. 4) In 1240, however,
the men of Wilton complained that the bishop
allowed daily markets in his city, (fn. 5) and in 1275 Old
Salisbury and Wilton both complained that several
markets were held weekly to the detriment of their
own trade. (fn. 6) The sheriff when ordered to prohibit
these markets seemed powerless to do so. (fn. 7) In a
royal confirmation of an earlier charter the bishop
in 1315 secured the recognition of a second perpetual
market on Saturdays. (fn. 8) The issue was finally settled
in 1361, when it was decreed that the bishop should
restrict his markets to Tuesdays and Saturdays,
leaving the other four days of the week for Old
Salisbury and Wilton. (fn. 9) These two days have
remained the market days for Salisbury until 1960. (fn. 10)
The bishop's ownership of the perquisites of the
market was formally recognized in his agreement
with the citizens in 1306. (fn. 11) By the end of the century
they were held of him for life by his official called
clerk of the city of Salisbury and the manors of
Woodford, Milford, and Keyhaven (Hants), who
was commonly called the bishop's clerk. (fn. 12) In the 15th
century it is clear, however, that the mayor and the
assembly exercised considerable control over the
market in such matters as where and at what times
the various commodities were to be sold, the prevention of fraudulent practices, and the cleansing
and paving of the Market Place. (fn. 13) In the series of
disputes with the bishop between 1465 and 1474 (fn. 14)
the citizens tried unsuccessfully to obtain the profits
of the market and the appointment of clerk of the
market for themselves. (fn. 15) Soon after this, however,
the city began to take certain market profits, evidently by grant for term of years or life from the
bishop's clerk, who held his office in fee. Thus, by
1491 the clerk, John Basket, had granted to the city
the profits of all standings in the market which
belonged to his office, and the assembly ordered four
of its members to let those profits at reasonable
rates. (fn. 16) The duration of the city's tenure of the
clerk's perquisites is not known. The assembly let
the farm of the stalls in the market for four years in
1503, (fn. 17) but by 1512 the bishop's clerk was again
dealing with a stall in the fish market, (fn. 18) and in 1537
the old claim that the mayor should be clerk of the
market was revived. (fn. 19)
An important section of the market, the stalls
occupied by butchers from outside the city, did not
belong to the bishop's clerk. In 1480 the assembly
ordered that the meat shambles should all be moved
to one place at the back of Pot Row so that the
entire rents and profits arising from them could be
levied by the chamberlains to the city's use. (fn. 20) In
1483 negotiations were authorized with 'my master
baily of the city' for a lease (or a renewal of an
existing lease) of the butchers' stalls. (fn. 21) It is clear,
however, that the city in fact obtained a permanent
interest in them, and there are indications that new
stalls were built, no doubt on the site decided in
1480. Thus a rental of the 'out-butcher row', called
the new stalls, made in 1489 shows that they stood
in two rows of twelve each, (fn. 22) and in 1500 the makers
of the stalls agreed to surrender them to the city
on Lady Day. (fn. 23) Thereafter rents from the stalls
were regularly received until the later 17th century. (fn. 24)
They were leased for terms of years (fn. 25) until 1552,
when it was ordered that they were to be only let
at will. (fn. 26) In 1611, when there were twenty-eight
stalls, they were leased as a whole, (fn. 27) but they were
later let individually again at 10s. a year each. (fn. 28) The
stalls were pulled down, 'by persons unknown' as it
was later said, in 1683, (fn. 29) and three years later the
area where they had been was let on condition that
the lessee should pave and maintain it. (fn. 30) The space
was regularly let until the last lease expired in 1785
and was not renewed. (fn. 31)
In the controversies with the bishop in the late
16th century the commonalty renewed their claim
that the mayor should be clerk of the market, (fn. 32) but
the bishop replied that 'no mayor hath ever had the
government of the market as clerk but only under
the bishop, jointly with the bishop's baylie as deputy
to the bishop'. (fn. 33) The bishop's right to the profits
was not disputed at that time, (fn. 34) and the picage and
stallage of the markets remained in the hands of the
bishop's clerk until towards the end of the 18th
century, (fn. 35) except for a short period during the Interregnum when they were purchased by the city. (fn. 36)
The mayor's powers of supervision remained; for
instance, in the 17th and 18th centuries, dishonest
coal merchants were suspended by order of the
mayor 'as clerk of the market', (fn. 37) and in 1742 an
offender against regulations he had made for the
better ordering of the market was prosecuted. (fn. 38)
The matter was finally settled in 1784 when, in
the course of negotiations about the rebuilding of
the Council House, the bishop agreed to surrender
the office of clerk of the market, subject to the life
interest of the then holder. (fn. 39) The Act of Parliament
of the following year providing for the rebuilding
of the Council House and gaol confirmed the city's
right to appoint henceforth to the clerkship of the
market, and to receive all market tolls, fees, and
perquisites. (fn. 40) At the same time the opportunity was
taken to authorize the levying of small tolls on cattle
hitherto exempt. This aroused an immediate protest
from the leading tradesmen led by Thomas Ogden
of Ogden, Bowles and Wyndham, the bankers, but
no action was taken by the council until 1787 when
23 graziers and cattle dealers, who had been boycotting the market, agreed to return if the tolls were
removed. (fn. 41) The council, therefore, advocated the
suspension of the relevant clause of the Act of 1785,
despite the fact that the tolls in question had been
promised to Lord Radnor as mortgage for the new
Council House. (fn. 42)
At the time of the surrender by the bishop of the
right to appoint to the clerkship, the office was held
by the Revd. Thomas Henry Hume, later treasurer
of the cathedral, who had leased the office to William
Tinney. In 1793 Tinney was involved in a dispute
over tolls with certain cattle dealers and interested
citizens, again headed by Thomas Ogden, but in the
face of opposition, which had the support of the
council, he withdrew his demands. (fn. 43) This episode
coincided with the failure of negotiations which the
corporation had begun with Hume to purchase his
interest for £400. Hume asked for £700 which the
corporation considered excessive. Negotiations were
re-opened in the autumn of 1795, and successfully
concluded the following year, Hume agreeing to the
corporation's price, and Tinney surrendering his
rights as tenant. As he was elected Clerk of the Peace
the same day, this was presumably a quid pro quo. (fn. 44)
The corporation had now obtained complete
control of the markets and the income arising from
them, but was apparently still in some doubt about
the exact nature of its rights. A petition in 1823
from a number of farmers and corn dealers asking
for the removal of the corn market to a new site (see
below) was the occasion of the setting up of a
committee to inquire into the whole question. (fn. 45)
This committee reported that although the tolls
from the mayor's market had hitherto been paid to
the mayor, this was only the result of uninterrupted
usage, and that these tolls, and in fact all the market
tolls, belonged of right to the mayor and commonalty. It was recommended that the tolls from the
mayor's market should in future be paid to the
corporation, and that the mayor should receive £16
in lieu. (fn. 46)
The average yearly net income received by the
corporation from the market tolls was £23 in the
period 1797–1800, £22 in 1801–4, £25 in 1805–15,
and about £43 in 1827–33. (fn. 47) In 1829 and 1830 the
auditors referred to a decline in income and recommended that some action be taken. (fn. 48) In 1834 the
market committee complained of the conduct of
their collector of tolls, and proposed letting the tolls
by tender. (fn. 49) Letting, either by tender or auction,
continued throughout the remainder of the century;
the annual sum raised varied considerably, but was
often about £100 for the combined markets and
fairs. (fn. 50) The provision of adequate facilities for the
market was a slow process. In 1824 it was ordered
that standings should be 5 ft. from the pavements,
following a complaint from the shopkeepers of
Oatmeal Row that people could not pass freely and
that men wheeling barrows were apt to break their
windows. (fn. 51) As a result of the petition of 1823 (see
above) the corn market was moved from the part of
the Market Place known as the Mayor's Market or
Milk Cross, near the end of Castle Street, to a space
in front of the Council House. (fn. 52) The corporation
paved the ground and Wadham Wyndham, one of
the city's Members of Parliament, undertook to pay
for a temporary awning to cover it. (fn. 53) In 1840 a
proposal to use the nisi prius court in the Council
House as a corn market, by fitting it with a movable
floor, came to nothing. (fn. 54) In 1851 a newly-established
monthly cheese market had also to be held in a
temporary building put up each market-day. (fn. 55)
The provision of more adequate market facilities
was finally undertaken by a private body, when the
Salisbury Railway and Market House Company was
established in 1865. It built the present Market House
in Castle Street connected by rail with the station
at Fisherton, and providing facilities for the sale of
corn, cheese, wool, and other produce. The net
yearly income of the corporation from their tolls had
not been on average above £100 in recent years, so
the company was ordered to compensate the corporation if it fell below that figure from then on. (fn. 56)
In fact the stallholders do not seem to have deserted
the Market Place for long, if at all, and the market
for provisions and small goods held there remains a
feature of Salisbury in 1960. The Market House
was used for weekly corn, monthly cheese, and
yearly wool markets. Of these the first is still held,
the second lapsed about 1900, and the third was
held until 1939. It was also used for local shows and
political meetings before the Second World War. (fn. 57)
The cattle market was held near Barnwell's Cross
in Barnard Street in the 15th century and was still
held there in the 17th century. (fn. 58) It is not known
when it was first held in the Market Place, but it
appears to have been there by the early 19th century.
Smaller livestock continued to be sold there until
1952, although it had long been the custom for cattle
to be sold in private yards belonging to the
auctioneers. (fn. 59) In 1952 the cattle market was moved
to a site near the swimming bath west of Castle
Street; in 1959 a new cattle market with permanent
penning for over 5,000 head of stock was built by
the corporation on a site north of Scamells Road. (fn. 60)
Of the continuous importance of Salisbury market
from the Middle Ages until the present there can
be no doubt. Leland noted that it was 'well served'
with flesh, and particularly with fish, a great part of
the fish taken between the Tamar and Southampton
being sold there. (fn. 61) In the late-18th century the
fortnightly cattle market was described as one of the
largest in the kingdom, (fn. 62) and this was still so in
1851. (fn. 63) In 1888 the market was chiefly for corn and
cattle, especially fat-stock; the latter was brought
from Devon and Somerset and attracted buyers
from a wide area. (fn. 64)
In 1221 the Bishop of Salisbury obtained a grant
of a two-day fair at New Salisbury on the vigil and
feast of the Assumption (14–15 Aug.). (fn. 65) An extension of the period of this fair to ten days from 14
August was included in the royal charter to the city
in 1227. (fn. 66) In 1270 a second fair lasting from 30
September to 7 October was granted, (fn. 67) and in 1315
a third from 24 March to 2 April. (fn. 68) No mention of
the holding of the August fair has been found. By
the 16th century the bishop seems to have owned
three fairs, on the Tuesday after Epiphany (or
twelfth day), Lady Day (or lent), and Michaelmas. (fn. 69)
The process by which the profits of these fairs
passed to the city is very similar to that traced above
for the markets. In 1381 the commonalty granted
'the office of picage in the city as it has been used
in the city' for a term of ten years, but it is not clear
what authority they had for so doing. (fn. 70) In the later
15th century, however, the city evidently gained
temporary control over some of the fairs by grant
of the bishop's clerk. The grant of John Basket to
the mayor and commonalty in or before 1491
included the profits of all standings in every fair
belonging to his office. (fn. 71) Three years later the
assembly ordered the serjeants to set out the
standings for the Lady Day fair. (fn. 72) The city let the
profits of the fairs in 1500 (fn. 73) and 1503, (fn. 74) and were
still receiving perquisites from the Epiphany and
Lady Day fairs in 1510 and 1513. (fn. 75) As with the
markets, however, the city's interest in the bishop's
fairs at Epiphany and Lady Day appears to have
lapsed soon after this time, and was not revived,
except for a period during the Interregnum, until
it took over the profits of markets and fairs in 1785
(see above).
The city does, however, seem to have acquired, in
an unexplained way, a permanent interest in at least
part of the Michaelmas fair. In 1572 a lease of the
Greencroft reserved the profits of a fair there to the
city, (fn. 76) and in 1580 a Michaelmas sheep fair there is
mentioned. (fn. 77) In 1593 the bishop acknowledged that
the profits of this fair belonged to the city. (fn. 78)
Subsequent leases of the croft in the 17th and 18th
centuries continued to include a house called the
hurdle house and the profits of a sheep fair there. (fn. 79)
In 1771 the corporation of Wilton brought an action
against the city's lessee for holding this fair; (fn. 80) its
outcome has not been found, but when the Greencroft was next leased, in 1789, the right of holding
two sheep fairs yearly was reserved to the corporation. (fn. 81)
Beside fairs belonging to the bishop and the city,
a fourth fair in Salisbury belonged to the dean and
chapter, and was held in the Close. In 1414 the
income from this fair was collected by the chapter
clerk of works, and later became a perquisite of the
porter of the Close in compensation for rent he had
previously received from the choristers. (fn. 82) In 1426
trouble arose between the porter and the 'pyccher'
of the city as to picage during this fair, and was
settled by an agreement that the porter should pay
1d. for each booth there. (fn. 83) A court of piepowder
was held in the Close for the Whitsun fair in 1457. (fn. 84)
In 1503 the chapter leased to John Weston, a
sacristan, the right of putting up sheep pens
according to the ancient custom for the fair held on
the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Whitsun
week in a meadow in the Close by Harnham Gate. (fn. 85)
In 1565 the chapter ordered that this meadow
should be set apart for the fairs. (fn. 86) Three years later
the fair and the 'bailiff's office of the sheep pens'
were leased for 41 years, and in 1570 a reversion of
the lease for a further 21 years was granted. (fn. 87) In
the 17th century the profits of the fair for sheep and
cattle held on the Tuesday of Whitsun week were
leased separately from the profits of the remainder,
which were granted with the office of porter of the
Close. (fn. 88)
Before the 17th century only scattered references
indicate who frequented the Salisbury fairs and the
commodities sold at them. Sellers of cloth were at
the Lady Day fair in 1400; (fn. 89) in an Act of Parliament
of 1488 the Salisbury fairs were mentioned as among
the most important held in the provinces, (fn. 90) and in
1493 it was said that many drapers and other
merchants of London regularly attended the Lady
Day fair. (fn. 91) When the city owned the fairs during
the Interregnum, the Epiphany and Lady Day fairs
were for cloth, and the Whitsun and Michaelmas
ones for general goods. (fn. 92) In the late 17th century
Aubrey spoke of 'a very great fair for cloth at
Twelf-tyde called Twelfe Market'. (fn. 93) In 1769 an
attempt to move one of the cloth fairs from Epiphany
to August, leaving the former for cattle and cheese,
seems to have had no effect. (fn. 94) In 1770 the four
Salisbury fairs were listed as follows: the Tuesday
after 6 January for cattle and woollen cloth; the
Monday before old Lady Day (5 April) for woollen
cloth; Whit-Monday and Tuesday for pedlary and
horses; and Tuesday after 10 October for hops,
onions, and cheese. (fn. 95) This list was repeated in
1798, (fn. 96) and with minor variations of date in 1831,
when it was said that the fairs were falling into
disuse. (fn. 97) The fair in the Close was discontinued
soon after this time by order of the chapter, (fn. 98) and
by 1851 only the April and October fairs were being
held; (fn. 99) a few years later the April fair was described
as 'merely of nominal importance'. (fn. 100) In 1853,
however, the city established two sheep fairs, on
15 July and 15 October, which were held at the
Butts, off Castle Road. (fn. 101) By 1860 they were sufficiently well established to be let, (fn. 102) and have continued to be held until the present time. Of the
older fairs the only one to survive has been the
October fair, held in the 19th century on the
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday after Weyhill
Fair, near Andover. By the later part of the century
it was entirely a pleasure fair, although still an
important stimulus to trade; fair day was the best
day for business in the year, when farmers and
labourers came to spend their harvest money, and
shopkeepers provided cold lunches for their customers gratis. (fn. 103)
In the 15th century the clothworkers of Salisbury
were forbidden to sell their wares outside the city
except once yearly at the fair of St. Edmund. (fn. 104)
Between 1491 and 1524 the churchwardens of St.
Edmund's Church received small sums from the
perquisites of this fair, levied from cheese-sellers
and other artificers who had standings both within
and without the churchyard. (fn. 105) The city received 5d.
from the perquisites of the fair in 1497–8, but
nothing more is known of it. (fn. 106)