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Description: | Wickham Fair has been held annually for over 700 years on the 20th May, ever since the charter was granted to Sir Roger de Scuris in 1269. This granted permission to hold a fair and a market from the Eve of St Nicholas (the Saints day was then celebrated on 20th May) on 19th May from 12 noon until 9 a.m. on the 21st when all traces of the Fair must have been removed. If once the fair missed coming then the charter would be broken and the right to hold the fair forfeited. So during the war, a stall was placed in the square to maintain the rights.
When it began the square was especially laid out to accommodate both a fair and a market, and until the beginning of the 20th century, the market was as important as the fair. In the 19th century, hundreds of cattle, perhaps 2000 sheep and 200 horses were at the fair. The cattle reached from Wickham gate at the top of Red Hill to the square at the Winchester Road end and from the top of Bridge Street to some way down the Droxford Road. The sheep were always penned in on the southeast side of the square, and the pigs on a patch of ground at the southwest end. This patch was originally covered with turf. The horses started at the Star Corner and reached sometimes to the railway arch on the Fareham Road. Many good horses were offered for sale at the fair, 60 guineas being paid for a cart horse, which was a good price then. The market proved to be not as prosperous as the fair and so was moved out of the square. The cattle, pig and sheep sale has disappeared since the war. Farmers used to come to meet the tradesmen and pay their yearly accounts. The tradesmen used to put up stands for the display of goods in the fair meadow off Blind Lane.
In the early days Wickham Fair was a market, horse sale and a fun fair all rolled into one. The centre of the square was kept clear for tournaments, jousting and exhibitions of strength while round the edge would be small amusements and exhibitions of handicrafts. There would be wrestling, javelin throwing, dancers, acrobats, medicine men and fortune tellers as well as dancing bears, performing dogs and caged birds. For many local people, Wickham fair was the highlight of their year. As recently as WW1, the fair was very different to now. Then the gypsies with their caravans used to rush into the square promptly at 12 noon on the 19th May in order to erect their stalls and amusements for the 20th. The rush resulted in fighting, mayhem and casualties and whilst the men erected the fair, the women and children sold lace, pegs and told fortunes in the area. Now, however, the fair is much more orderly although still very lively with the horse race during the morning and the fair beginning in the afternoon. The money earned from the letting of the square, goes towards its upkeep.
Many traditions have survived till recent times. The first pony used to receive a pint of beer or ale at the Star Inn, (now Greens), and the Forest ponies are raced around Star Corner and along the Fareham Road before being sold. On 20th May all traffic is still diverted from the square.
References:
1. Wickham A village study. No date.
2. Warwick, D A. 1983. Bygone Wickham, p. 20-22. | Format: | image/jpeg | License: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=gateway&f=generic_sitetext%2ehtm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&cms_con_core_subtype%3acms_con_text_what=copyright&%3acms_sys_group=%22sopse%22 | Rights holder: | The News, Portsmouth | Subjects: | the Square pony horse street Sir Roger de Scuris Eve of St Nicholas Greens Red Hill fair livestock funfair horse sale market Fareham Road Saints Day Star Inn event Blind Lane Bridge Street Wickham Fair Winchester Road | Temporal: | start=1995-05-01; end=1995-05-31; | Source: | Sense of place SE | Creator: | The News, Portsmouth | Identifier: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | image/jpeg | Go to resource |
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