ASTON’s MEDIEVAL FAIR & MARKET

750 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

·        A ROYAL CHARTER was granted on 15 September 1257 for Aston to hold a  TUESDAY WEEKLY MARKET  and an ANNUAL FAIR 31 July to 2 August by King Henry III.

·        These MARKETS/FAIRS were held on the wide strip of land/road between the church and The Green.  Often churches of that time would have been plain open halls where the community could meet and do trade (there would not have been any pews/seats in our much smaller church at that time).

·        The weekly MARKETS would sell food and perishable goods and other wares to local people.

·        The annual FAIRS were no doubt a larger event and would be big in cattle and cheese, for example.  Cattle were often temporarily put on a village green for sale (hence the name of THE GREEN).

·        They were restricted to be at least 7 miles away from any other market/fair, so Aston would have become an important centre for trading.

·        The ROYAL CHARTER was granted to the Abbot of Chester who owned the lands of ESTON within the Manor of Weston, Derbyshire.

Information based on notes from Dr Trevor James of Litchfield – professional historian.

See more history notes attached.

Ken Adams

To mark the occasion --   A MARKET IS PLANNED,               Bring your own home produce, vegetables, fruit, cheese, cakes, plants etc

to SELL, SWAP, or  COME AND BUY

10.00am-12.00  SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 08

OUTSIDE THE LYCHGATE

Just turn up– byo table– diy– free - local sellers only

 

MEDIEVAL FAIRS & MARKETS OF ASTON

This follows on from Main Statement of 750 Year Anniversary of Aston

bullet The annual Fairs aspired to draw in people from a wider area than the Markets.  As time went on, fairs would have entertainers to attract even more people and get even bigger as the years progressed.
bullet Fairs & Markets fall into two categories:
  1. Customary – very old and existing before the Royal Charter e.g located in Hill Forts at 1066 “Norman Conquest and all that”.  Derby Fair was first mentioned in 1204 and probably dated back to the creation of the burgh in 917.
  2. Prescriptive – covers Fairs granted by Royal Charter.

The King received £3 6s 8d for granting a fair so all existing Customary Fairs had to pay up to get the new legal grant.

bullet Before 1200 markets were held in churchyards on Sundays (it maximised sales potential. ed).
bullet Fairs and Markets were most prolific along the lines of communication e.g along rivers or major national roads.
bullet Fairs and Markets were often adjacent to a castle or parish church.  They often had a market cross (as in Aston up to 1837) from which announcements could be made and it was from here the formal reading of the Proclamation of the Charter would be made prior to the fair or market opening, it was opened by the ringing of a bell, but only after all the tolls had been collected, e.g 1d on a sack of wool, 1d on a tun of wine and 1d on a horse drawn cart.
bullet In 1213 a Charter (i.e Law) was declared to collect tolls for both Fairs and Markets.  Edward I and III constantly asserted that no-one in the realm was permitted to hold a market without a Licence and must keep to the laws.  Many owners of fairs and markets were fined because of infringements of the assize of bread, ale and weights and measures (i.e stale bread and the beer was off and sold short: ed),  the Licence for the fairs and markets were seized by the Crown as punishment.  This is the reason why Aston, Ashbourne and Bakewell were seized in 1330 and would be returned to the owners after paying the fine (ed: it’s assumed Aston on Trent did not pay the fine ). Aston ceased to hold a fair or market after this date.
bullet Talking of legalities:

-          The market authorities were obligated to control what went on including grievances, punch-ups, bad debts and quarrels of quality of goods, weights and measures.  A Fairs’ Lord would be responsible for checking the quality of the beer and wine (probably at the end of the day he didn’t know whether it was wine or beer he was sampling: ed).

-          The authorities gave instant justice by chaining up the offender in stocks or pillory and this became part of the entertainment that these events were famous for. (I’m hoping to get one! :ed).

bullet A by-product of the fair was the gathering and socialising of people, it was often where youngsters met their future spouse or where labourers were hired for the next year’s work (i.e Medieval Job Centre  ed).
bullet The Black Death struck in 1348-1349 and weakened the market trading generally throughout the country when  50% of the population died . Black death victims are believed to have been buried in a field on the opposite side of the A50road to the new cemetery on Derby Road .

It would be good to learn if anybody has found any artefacts of this 13th/14th Century period, between the church and Le Grene’ (The Green) to establish the credibility that our Market/Fair was held on this location.

These notes are believed to be how Aston on Trent history is reflected.

KEN ADAMS

22 November 2007