Stourbridge Fair by Honor Ridout
In medieval times, Stourbridge Common was the site of one of Europe’s largest fairs – a bustling centre for shopping, eating, and revelry, offering temptations of every kind. The fair grew over the centuries to become one of the largest and most important in Europe. The first mention is from 1211 when King John granted a charter to the Leper Hospital to raise money by holding a fair. The last fair was in 1933, opened by the then Mayor of Cambridge, Florence Keynes. By the end, it had dwindled to a funfair, but in previous centuries, Stourbridge Fair was the big event of the Cambridge year. Early on, it made Cambridge quite a prosperous little town. There is still a small ceremony every year, the next will be on 7th September 2024.
Honor Ridout’s talk will tell the fascinating 800-year-old story of Stourbridge Fair.
Tickets will be available from 4th July on our Eventbrite page HERE
Biog
Honor Ridout is an expert on the subject of Cambridge and its history. She published a book to much acclaim in 2011 entitled ‘Cambridge and Stourbridge fair’. Honor has worked for both the City and the University, after studying there. She has held the post of Chair of the Cambridgeshire Association for Local History and a member of the council of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society.
Honor Ridout
Honor mentions, "Ever since I started reading up Cambridge history, the Fair fascinated me. The list of commodities sold was quite amazing. The sums of money said to have changed hands were enormous – millions in today’s money – so it was obviously a major event in the Cambridge calendar. Despite this, other visitors to the town in those distant days said it was a pretty shabby place, very congested (what changes?) and lacking any redeeming features. Except the Colleges, of course. I decided to try to find out why there was this contrast, and what happened to the money that people should have been making hand over fist."