User:Jackr8106/Stourbridge fair

Hi classmate! Not sure where else to put this so here:. Not all of this is mine because the article was already started.

Success[edit]
As the fair grew to become the largest in Europe the prosperity of the Leper Chapel was assured, with the position of a priest there among the most lucrative jobs in the Church of England. In the late thirteenth century the leper colony closed, and the fair was handed over to the town of Cambridge.

As the annual fair became more successful still, the right to control it became the subject of a battle between the town of Cambridge and its well-established University until in 1589 Elizabeth I confirmed the right of the town to collect the fair's profit, but controversially granted the University the right to oversee the organisation of the fair, as well as controlling quality. The fair was used a meeting place to make contact for buyers and sellers of pewter and other valuable bell-making materials. The once flourishing chapel became merely the store for the stalls, and in the eighteenth century was even used as a pub.

Originally running for only two days, by 1589 the fair lasted from August 24 to September 29, with the 1589 charter stating that it "far surpassed the greatest of and most celebrated fairs of all England; whence great benefits had resulted to the merchants of the whole kingdom, who resorted thereto, and there quickly sold their wares and merchandises to purchasers coming from all parts of the Realm". Holding the fair in September allowed farmers to sell goods in the quiet period between harvest and ploughing, and the fact that it was out of term time meant that University tradesmen could also participate. The fair became a crucial event where the most prominent families in eastern England would come to purchase their spices, wax, timber, cloth, and pewter ware. The goods were available at whole sale prices for those who could afford it. The fair held the largest variety of goods compared to other fairs held at the time, rarely were trades not represented at their respective shops.

Local barrister Jacob Butler, who, in 1714, inherited Abbey House and the surrounding land, which played host to the fair, reportedly attempted to re-establish the ancient custom that stalls still standing on Michaelmas could be demolished, by driving his carriage through piles of uncleared crockery.

Decline[edit]
In the late eighteenth century, the popularity of the fair began to decline, partly due to the arrival of canals and improved roads leading to the decline in the importance of rivers as a means of navigation. The fair only lasted a fortnight, and the amount of income it generated for the city had fallen. By the nineteenth century, the fair served more as a means of entertainment than being of economic importance, and was only a few days in length. As the Victorian town grew, the common became surrounded by poor housing, and the rich visitors became disinclined to visit a potentially dangerous area. The Midsummer Fair, on the other hand, was in a more convenient central location and the Stourbridge Fair fell out of favour.

The Stourbridge Fair became less and less prominent of an event as the use of commercial travellers increased. The fair also depended on shopkeepers buying directly rather than third or fourth hand. The fair did not adapt to the changes in how the markets operated.

Stourbridge Fair continued until it was held for the final time in 1933. On this occasion the fair was opened by the Mayor of Cambridge, Florence Ada Keynes (mother of John Maynard Keynes), attended by the Clerk of the Peace and the Sergeant-at-Mace  "in the presence of a couple of women with babies in their arms and an ice-cream barrow."