GAZETTEER OF MARKETS AND FAIRS IN ENGLAND AND WALES TO 1516
Text Template and List of Abbreviations
Text Template
Each entry in the Gazetteer follows the following general layout. Note that not every category of information will be present for each entry.
| PLACE 8-figure Ordnance Survey National Grid reference. If borough or mint with first known date. 1334 Lay Subsidy valuation. If market town c.1600 (as noted by Everitt). If fair in existence 1587 (as recorded in Harrison). Other references to the history of the place (with sources). | ||
| M (Market) | (Type of market - prescriptive (because borough or mint) or type of grant) day of week market held; date granted or recorded, grantor, grantee, any other information including confirmations or regrants (source of information is given in parentheses). | |
| F (Fair) | (Type of fair - prescriptive or type of grant) days held - in the form of vfm+1 to represent the vigil, feast and morrow plus the following day, feast name (feast date (or Easter Dependent)); date granted or recorded, grantor, grantee, any other information including confirmations or regrants (source of information is given in parentheses). | |
| Any miscellaneous information on the markets/fairs | ||
Example of entry for York
| YORK 4603 4512. Borough 1086 (Darby, p. 368). Mint 924-1154, Viking coins before 924. 1334 Subsidy £1620. Roman colonia. Archbishopric from 625. Borough and civitas in Domesday Book. Incorporated as a county borough in 1396 (Darby, p. 368, BF, pp. 184-5). From the late eleventh century, the suburb of Bootham was a separate ‘borough’ belonging to St Mary’s Abbey (VCH Yorkshire (City of York), pp. 23, 39-40; BF, pp. 186, 188). Market town c.1600 (Everitt, p. 469). Fair 1587, 1 Aug (Harrison, p. 395). See also VCH Yorkshire (City of York), pp. 39-40, 484-91. | ||
| M | (Prescriptive: borough, mint) recorded 1086, macello (Darby, p. 370). The count of Mortain held two stalls in the market (Darby and Maxwell, p. 158). Sun was the market day until the early fourteenth century. Sun market prohibited in 1322, but an irregular market on Sun and feast days was held in the churchyard of St Michael le Belfrey in the early fifteenth century. The name Thursday Market (now St Sampson’s Square) occurs from the thirteenth century. This market place may have existed for some time. Originally, the market may only have been held on Thurs. However, by the sixteenth century, markets were held in York on Tues, Thurs and Sat (VCH Yorkshire (City of York), pp. 484-5). | |
| M | (Charter) Wed; gr 18 Apr 1318, by K Edw II to A and C of St Mary’s York. To be held at the borough of Bootham. Note by charter: ‘Memorandum that this charter was restored and cancelled by order of the king because it was granted to the injury of the city of York’ (CChR, 1300-26, p. 407). In 1448, the A of St Mary’s was granted permission to appoint clerks of the market, which may indicate that a market continued (VCH Yorkshire (City of York), p. 490). | |
| F | (Prescriptive) Peter ad Vincula (1 Aug); feria, recorded 1114x40, held by T[hurstan] archbp of York. The fair had temporarily eschaeted to the Crown (EYC, i, no. 143). Fair recorded in 1125x35, 1195, 1212 and 1214 (PR, 7 Ric I, p. 30; PR, 14 John, p. 2; PR, 14 John, p. 769). In 1293, John Archbp of York was holding a fair on vfm Peter ad Vincula (QW, pp. 222-3). Also known as the Lammas fair. After the calendar change of 1752, the date of the fair may have been moved to 12 Aug. The fair continued until 1837 (VCH Yorkshire (City of York), p. 490). | |
| F | (Prescriptive) Pentecost (Easter Dep); recorded late thirteenth century (VCH Yorkshire (City of York), pp. 489-90). On 10 Jul 1449, K Hen VI granted the mayor and citizens of York a fair on the six days after the feast of Whitsuntide, to be held at the city (CChR, 1427-1516, p. 102). The fair was subsequently confined to Whit Sunday and Whit Monday; after 1586 it was held only on the latter day. Whit Monday fair continued in the twentieth century (VCH Yorkshire (City of York), pp. 489-90). | |
| F | (Prescriptive) Peter and Paul (29 Jun); recorded late thirteenth century (VCH Yorkshire (City of York), pp. 489-90). Fair continued until the nineteenth century. | |
| F | (Charter) vfm Nativity of Mary (8 Sept); gr 18 Apr 1318, by K Edw II to the A and C of St Mary’s York, to be held at the borough of Bootham. Note by charter: ‘Memorandum that this charter was restored and cancelled by order of the king because it was granted to the injury of the city of York’ (CChR, 1300-26, p. 407). | |
| F | (Letter Patent) Mon after f of Ascension+5 (Easter Dep); gr 25 Jan 1502, by K Hen VII to mayor and commonalty of the city of York (CPR, 1494-1509, p. 257). Fair is only recorded in 1502 (VCH Yorkshire (City of York), p. 490). | |
| F | (Letter Patent) f+5 Luke the Evangelist (18 Oct); gr 25 Jan 1502, by K Hen VII to mayor and commonalty of the city of York (CPR, 1494-1509, p. 257). Fair continued in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. After the calendar change of 1752, the date of the fair was changed to 29 Oct. Fair continued until c.1859 (VCH Yorkshire (City of York), p. 490). | |
List of Abbreviations
| A | abbot | |
| Actes des Henri II | Recueil des Actes de Henri II, 4 vols., ed. L. Delisle and E. Berger (Paris, 1906- 27) | |
| Apr | April | |
| Archbp | archbishop | |
| As | abbess | |
| Aug | August | |
| Ballard and Tait | A. Ballard and J. Tait (eds.), British Borough Charters, 1216- 1307 (Cambridge, 1923) | |
| Beresford | M. Beresford, New Towns of the Middle Ages (London, 1967) | |
| BF | M. Beresford and H.R.P. Finberg, English Medieval Boroughs: a handlist (London, 1973) | |
| Bk of Fees | Liber Feodorum: The Book of Fees commonly called Testa de Nevill (1198-1293), 2 vols (London, 1920-31) | |
| bp | bishop | |
| Bp | bishop | |
| C | convent | |
| Ca | canons | |
| CAD | Descriptive Catalogue of Ancient Deeds in the Public Record Office, 6 vols (London, 1890- 1915) | |
| Cartae Antiquae | Cartae Antiquae, rolls 1- 10, ed. L. Landon (Pipe Rolls Soc. xvii, 1939); rolls 11-20, ed. J. Conway-Davis (Pipe Roll Soc. new series xxxiii, 1960) | |
| CChR | Calendar of Charter Rolls (1226-1516) 6 vols. (London, 1903-27) | |
| CCR | Calendar of Close Rolls (1272-1485), 45 vols. (London, 1892-1954); (1485-1509) 2 vols., ed. R.E. Latham, S.S. Wilson (London, 1955, 1963) | |
| CCW | Calendar of Chancery Warrants (1244-1326) (London, 1927) | |
| CDS | Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland preserved in the Public Record Office (1108-1509) 4 vols., ed. J. Bain (Edinburgh, 1881-8) | |
| ch | church | |
| Challis | C. Challis, A New History of the Royal Mint (Cambridge, 1992) | |
| CIM | Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous preserved in the Public Record Office, 7 vols. (London, 1916- 68) | |
| CIPM | Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem and other analogus documents in the Public Record Office, (Henry III-7 Richard II) 15 vols. (London, 1904- 70) | |
| CPR | Calendar of Patent Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office (1232- 1509), 52 vols. (London, 1891- 1916) | |
| CR | Close Rolls of the Reign of Henry III, (1227-72) 14 vols. (London, 1902-38) | |
| CRR | Curia Regis Rolls of the reigns of Richard I, John and Henry III preserved in the Public Record Office, 16 vols. (London, 1922- 79) | |
| Darby | H.C. Darby, Domesday England (Cambridge, 1977) | |
| Darby and Maxwell | H.C. Darby and I.S. Maxwell eds. The Domesday Geography of Northern England (Cambridge, 1962) | |
| Dec | December | |
| Defence | The Defence of Wessex: the Burghal Hidage and Anglo-Saxon fortifications ed. D. Hill and A.R. Rumble (Manchester, 1996) | |
| EcHR | Economic History Review | |
| Edw | Edward | |
| Ekwall | E. Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, 4th edition (Oxford, 1980) | |
| Eliz | Elizabeth | |
| Everitt | A. Everitt's list of market towns c.1500- 1640 published in Agrarian History of England and Wales, iv (Cambridge, 1967), pp. 468-75 | |
| Ex | Exaltation | |
| EYC | Early Yorkshire Charters, vols. 1-3, ed. W. Farrer (Edinburgh, 1914-16); vols. 4-10, ed. C.T. Clay (Yorkshire Archaeological Soc. record series, extra series, 1935-55) | |
| f | feast | |
| FA | Inquisitions and Assessments relating to Feudal Aids; with other analogous documents preserved in the Public Record Office AD 1284-1431, 6 vols. (London, 1899- 1920) | |
| Feb | February | |
| FF Essex | Feet of Fines for Essex, 3 vols., ed. R.E.G. Kirk and E.F. Kirk (Essex Archaeological Soc., Colchester, 1899-1949) | |
| Fri | Friday | |
| GC | Market or fair granted by charter | |
| GEC | G.E. Cokayne, Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, ireland, Great Britain and United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant, new edition, revised by V. Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, D. Warrand, Lord Howard de Walden, G.H. White, 12 vols. (London, 1910- 59) | |
| GL | Market or fair granted by letter close | |
| Glasscock | R.E. Glasscock (ed), The Lay Subsidy of 1334, Records of the Social and Economic History, new series, ii (London, 1975) | |
| GO | Market or fair granted by means other than charter, letter close or letter patent | |
| GP | Market or fair granted by letter patent | |
| gr | granted | |
| Guide | F.A. Youngs (ed.), Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England (Royal Historical Society, 1991) | |
| Hen | Henry | |
| Inv | Invention | |
| Jan | January | |
| Jun | June | |
| Jul | July | |
| K | king | |
| kn | knight | |
| KW | History of the Kings Works: the Middle Ages, R. Allen Brown, H.M. Colvin, A.J. Taylor (London, 1963) | |
| L and P Henry VIII | Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic, of the reign of Henry VIII, 1509-47, vols. 1-4, ed. J.S. Brewer; vols. 5-12, ed. J. Gairdner; vols. 14-21, ed. R.H. Brodie (London, 1862- 1910) | |
| M | monks | |
| m | morrow | |
| Mar | March | |
| May | May | |
| Medieval Religious Houses | D. Knowles and R. N. Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses of England and Wales (London, 1971) | |
| Midgeley | M. Midgeley (ed.), Ministers' Accounts of the Earldom of Cornwall, 1296-7 (Camden 3rd series, lxvi, 1942-5), vol 1 | |
| Mon | Monday | |
| Monasticon | Monasticon Anglicanum, ed. W. Dugdale, reprinted new edition by J. Caley, H. Ellis and B. Bandinel, 6 vols. (1846) | |
| Nov | November | |
| Oct | October | |
| P | prior | |
| PR | Pipe Rolls (The Great Roll of the Pipe...) given in the form: PR, King and year of reign, page no.' | |
| Ps | prioress | |
| Qu | queen | |
| Ransford, Early Charters | R. Ransford ed., Early Charters of the Augustinian Canons of Waltham Abbey, Essex, 1062-1230 (Woodbridge, 1989) | |
| RCh | Rotuli Chartarum (London 1837) | |
| Regesta | Regesta Regum Anglo- Normannorum, vol. 1, ed. H.W.C. Davis ed. (Oxford, 1913); vol. 2, ed. C. Johnson and H.A. Cronne (Oxford, 1956); vols. 3 and 4, ed. H.A. Cronne and R.H.C. Davis (Oxford, 1968) | |
| Regesta 1066-87 | Regesta Regum Anglo- Normannorum The Acta of William I (1066- 87), ed. D. Bates (Oxford, 1998) | |
| Ric | Richard | |
| RLC | Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum (1204-27) 2 vols. (London, 1833, 1844) | |
| RLP | Rotuli Litterarum Patentium in Turri Londinensi Asservati (1201-16) ed. T.D. Hardy (London, 1835) | |
| Rosser | G. Rosser, Medieval Westminster 1200- 1540 (Oxford, 1989) | |
| Rot de Obl et Fin | Rotuli de Oblatis (1, 2, 3, 9 John) et Finibus (6, 7, 15, 17, 18 John) in Turri Londinensi Asservati, ed. T.D. Hardy (London, 1835) | |
| Sat | Saturday | |
| Sawyer, 'Sussex Markets' | F. E. Sawyer, 'Sussex Markets and Fairs', Sussex Archaeological Collections, xxxvi, Lewes (1888) | |
| Sept | September | |
| sh | sheriff | |
| Soulsby | I. Soulsby, The Towns of Medieval Wales (Chichester, 1983) | |
| St | Saint | |
| SS | Saints | |
| Steph | Stephen | |
| Sun | Sunday | |
| Tues | Tuesday | |
| Thurs | Thursday | |
| v | vigil | |
| VCH | Victoria County History. The reference is given in form VCH [County], volume, p. | |
| Wed | Wednesday | |
| Whit | Whitsun | |
| Wil | William |
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