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Ilkeston Fair
Ilkeston Charter Fair was first granted in 1252 and
can claim a heritage older than the other October fairs such as Nottingham
and Hull which it follows. Held on the first Thursday after the first
Sunday after the 11th of October, the event has remained in its traditional
setting, the market square over the past seven centuries. The original
Charter was granted by Henry III and the fair was held on the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin of Our Lady in August. The main components of the
fair would have been trading but amusements and festivities were also
largely associated with fairs held on holy days. The start of hiring fairs
or mops can be traced to the fourteenth century with the passing of the
Statute of Labourers in 1351 by Edward III. The agricultural calendar
in Ilkeston necessitated the holding of a Statutes or Hiring Fair in October
and both events continued to be held into the nineteenth century. Interestingly
neither dates are mentioned in Owen's Book of Fair in the eighteenth century
editions and Owen's New Book of Fairs for 1802. Two later fairs are dated
in the 1859-60 edition of the fair in which it is stated the following:
March 6, Whit Tuesday, Thursday after December 25 for cattle and pigs.
In 1888 the Assumption Fair and the Statute Fair were
amalgamated and from onwards one event was adopted which became known
as the Charter Fair and was held during Wakes Week in October. With the
proximity of the town to Nottingham and following so closely on from the
Goose Fair, the event prospered and it became one of the most prominent
fairs to be held in October in the United Kingdom. Many of the showmen
who appeared at the Goose Fair would appear at the fair with other showfamillies
such as Samuel Taylor the Ilkeston Giant and John Albert Proctor becoming
deeply associated with the town. The relationship between the showfamilies
and the local authorities has always been strong and this was particularly
the case in 1922 when John Proctor became Councillor for Ilkeston and
lived at Dragon House on Stanton Road. The fair became strongly fixed
in the minds of its controlling authority in 1931 when it received its
first civic opening, when Councillor Beardsley became the first Mayor
of Ilkeston to officially open the fair. The local government reorganisation
in 1974 did little to alter the strength of this understanding and warmth
that had developed between the Borough Council and the showmen and Erewash
Borough Council, the successor to Ilkeston Borough Council has continued
to expand and develop the fair over the past twenty five years. This eight
page special on the fair reflects this friendship and Kathleen Trueman
the Mayor of Ilkeston in 1992 and the present day Mayor both recollect
their time at the fair. The organisational aspect of the event is covered
by the Markets and Fairs Officer, Claire York who writes about the importance
of Ilkeston to the local community and Erewash Museum Services tell us
something about their popular fairground exhibition held every year in
conjunction with the fair. Ted Cooper writing in the World's Fair in the
1960s commented that the showmen and local people alike looked on the
fair with great affection, a sentiment which is true today as it was then.
A gallery of Ilkeston images can be found here.
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