Barnet Fair
Encyclopedia
Barnet Fair is an annual horse and pleasure fair held near Mays Lane Barnet
on the first Monday in September.
Barnet Horse Fair takes place over three days starting on the 4th September. It still operates under its royal Charter which is issued by Barnet council.
The fair began in 1588 when Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to the Lord of the Manor of Barnet to hold a fair twice yearly, in addition to the weekly Barnet Market
. Originally held in June and October, Lord John Tomlinson changed the dates to April and September in 1758 for the reason of improving business. From 1881, the April fair ceased.
The focus of the fair was its livestock, with animals being brought from across the United Kingdom
. In 1834, The Times
reported that Barnet Fair was England's largest cattle market, with up to 40,000 animals on display.
From the eighteenth century, the festivities also used to include horse racing, although these ceased in 1870 when the railway station was built on the ground in which they had been held.
The focus in the present-day Barnet Fair is no longer on horses and other livestock; instead, it is more of a pleasure fair.
The term 'Barnet Fair', normally shortened to 'Barnet', has become rhyming slang for 'hair'.
Barnet
High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...
on the first Monday in September.
Barnet Horse Fair takes place over three days starting on the 4th September. It still operates under its royal Charter which is issued by Barnet council.
The fair began in 1588 when Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to the Lord of the Manor of Barnet to hold a fair twice yearly, in addition to the weekly Barnet Market
Barnet Market
Barnet Market is a weekly market held in Barnet, which was first established on 23 August 1199 when King John issued a Charter for a Market at Barnet to the Lord of the Manor, the Abbot of St. Albans, John de Cella. This charter is one of the oldest recorded for a market...
. Originally held in June and October, Lord John Tomlinson changed the dates to April and September in 1758 for the reason of improving business. From 1881, the April fair ceased.
The focus of the fair was its livestock, with animals being brought from across the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. In 1834, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
reported that Barnet Fair was England's largest cattle market, with up to 40,000 animals on display.
From the eighteenth century, the festivities also used to include horse racing, although these ceased in 1870 when the railway station was built on the ground in which they had been held.
The focus in the present-day Barnet Fair is no longer on horses and other livestock; instead, it is more of a pleasure fair.
The term 'Barnet Fair', normally shortened to 'Barnet', has become rhyming slang for 'hair'.