Originally, fairs had a serious purpose, selling goods to the local townspeople. Quite a contrast to the fun-fair we enjoy today.
Stamford Mid-Lent Fair
“This is one of the oldest in the kingdom, although the time of its establishment is not known. King Henry the Third, about the middle of the 13th century, committed the custody of the fairs to John de Lemar to hold in like manner as the last Earl Warren had held them, from which it would appear that fairs had previously been held here.
In days of old, Stamford Mid-Lent Fair offered housewives the opportunity of buying sufficient commodities to last for the whole of the ensuing year. On the north side of Tinwell-road, just beyond Roman Bank, pewterers vended their goods, from which circumstances it became known as Pewterer’s Hedge.
It is related in Walcott’s Memorials that at this fair in 1189 a number of wild youths of Stamford obtained money for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land by robbing Jews who had grown rich and powerful. Many of the unfortunate victims took refuge in the Castle, their houses in the meantime being pillaged, whilst others, offering resistance, were put to death.”
Stamford Mercury, 11th March, 1932.