By Richard Bryant and John Mills
Each summer a fair arrives on Lindfield Common, reflecting a tradition that has featured in village life for centuries. In medieval times, Lindfield was a thriving small town. In 1343, to maintain its importance and prosperity, the Canons of South Malling, the Lords of the Manor, applied to Edward III for permission to hold fairs and a market. The King granted a Royal Charter allowing a market to be held every Thursday and two annual eight-day fairs to be held on 1st May, the Feast Day of Saint Philip and St James, and 25th July, the Feast Day of St James the Great. A charter for an eight-day fair was a significant privilege, as they were usually for three or five days.
The first Lindfield Fairs were held in 1344, the Spring Fair probably for sheep and cattle, with lambs featuring at the Summer Fair. The charter required them to be held ‘at the town’. Little is known of the fairs in medieval time but fairs across the country were similar events with records showing the trading of animals, the opportunity to buy a wide range of goods not available in the market or local shops. Itinerant traders travelled from fair to fair; less welcome were the rogue traders, pick-pockets and other ne’er-do-wells that such events attracted. Fairs also gave locals the chance to make merry with entertainment provided by travelling minstrels.
The Lindfield Fairs continued through the centuries but little information is known until the arrival of local newspapers in the early 1800s; by this time their duration was shorter and the July fair had moved to 5th August. Also, another fair was held in early April for the sale of tegs - two-year-old sheep - its origins are not known. The traditional ‘charter’ May Fair for sheep and cattle continued until the early 1850s, when it merged with the Summer Fair on the Common. The April Sheep Fair continued on the High Street; the wider roadway section below the Red Lion Inn being the traditional location of fairs since medieval times.
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The Sussex Advertiser in April 1828 reported, ‘The Lindfield Teg Fair was most amply supplied with stock and buyers. This Fair has of late years attained a degree of celebrity superior to any in the County; and this assertion will be borne out by the fact that more sheep have been penned and have fetched greater prices than any Fair in the County.’ Similarly, in 1882 the Mid Sussex Times commented that the April Sheep Fair ‘was somewhat numerously attended by cattle dealers and agriculturalists. The High Street presented quite an old-time picturesque appearance, so far as the cattle etc. were concerned’ but the confectionery stalls were limited ‘and confined to the north end of the town.’ Nevertheless, the fair was in decline, partly due to the opening of cattle markets.
The 1895 Clarke’s Directory noted ‘Two Fairs are held at Lindfield; one on 1st April for sheep and another on 8th August for lambs and cattle. That of 1st April seems doomed to die a natural death ere many more years pass, but the August Fair maintains its reputation as the largest in Sussex, whose flock masters and agriculturalists attend in great numbers’.
The April Fair limped on with increasing objections to its High Street location until 1901, when Cuckfield Rural District Council ordered the fair to be held on the Common. Subsequently the Sussex Express reported that this move ‘sounded the Fairs’ death knell’ and the last April Fair was held in 1903.
Turning to the Summer Fair in 1856, there were 28,000 lambs and sheep, together with nearly 800 cattle penned plus horses. The pens were located on uneven ground at the top of the Common furthest from the village, with the pleasure ground in the middle of the Common and the lower section reserved for the horse dealers. George Durrant, the Fair Manager, provided the wattles for the pens, which were stored in the wattle house opposite the Pond and in Denmans Lane. The animals were driven to Lindfield on foot, with journeys taking many days.
The pleasure fair featured penny rides on hand-driven roundabouts, swings, shows, a circus, various games and ‘Cheap Jack’ stalls such as Doctor Butler’s Pills to cure all ailments. It was reported: ‘The ground exhibited the usual quantity of victualling and liquor booths’ and the large size of the Tiger Inn’s tent was particularly noted. Drinking was a popular feature of the fairs, no doubt from their inception.
The layout of the fair changed in 1867 with the lambs, sheep and cattle moved to leveller ground lower down the Common, allowing more space for the pens and better grazing. The introduction of the August Bank Holiday made the 5th August date inconvenient and permission was sought to change to 8th August. This was granted ‘By Order of the Home Secretary,’ for 1889 and future fairs. Formal authority was necessary as it was deemed a charter fair.
During the next couple of decades the number of animals penned for sale gradually reduced but the pleasure fair grew larger. It is described in 1896 as having roundabouts, swings, coconuts shies, shooting galleries, wild beast shows, dog and monkey circus, a boxing women’s show, a men-only show that just conformed to the law, photographic studio offering ‘3 for a shilling’, try your weight machines, various games, many stalls and several steam organs.
The opening of the new cricket ground on the Common in 1907 resulted in the fair’s layout changing again. By this time, the sheep numbers grew smaller but it still ‘brings together one of the largest gatherings of landlords, farmers and dealers that takes place in the county and the amount of business transacted is considerable’.
The 1914 fair continued as usual despite the Great War commencing a few days earlier. It was visited by representatives of the Army Remount Department, looking to buy horses for the war. As soon as their presence was known to the gypsies, ‘they whipped up their horses, some of which were quietly grazing around the caravans and started them running in all directions. For the remainder of the day these horses were not to be seen’. The Army, however, succeeded in buying a few horses ‘which made their owners quite rich’. Gypsies with their caravans were a traditional sight at all the fairs. The pleasure part of the fair was suspended in 1915 for the duration of the war, but the sheep sales continued until 1916 and then ended permanently. The coming of peace saw the re-introduction of a small one-day pleasure fair and in the following years it grew in size and popularity.
The 1933 event, held over five days and run by Thomas Smith of Shoreham, featured dodgem cars, a miniature circus complete with clowns and performing ponies, tents displaying curious reptiles, Yorkshire’s fattiest lady weighing 40 stone, and the smallest lady in the world at 22½ inches. In the Adults Only tent, men viewed ‘Madam Lola and Hells Angels (dazzling Parisian beauties) in various poses’. There were the ever-popular rides, together with fortune tellers, shooting galleries, hoopla and similar games. No doubt to the annoyance of nearby residents, organ music played continuously.
Following suspension during WWII, the large pleasure fair continued for many years before a gradual decline to the much smaller visiting fair seen today.
Contact Lindfield History Project Group via https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/ or 01444 482136.