1263 Henry 111 granted a charter to John de Burgh Lord of the Manor for a
weekly
market every Tuesday and a fair on St. Remigius day and the day following
October
1st and 2nd.
1273 Edward1 granted permission for a fair to be held on St. Agnes's day,
January
21st and the day following being the dedication day of the church and another in
October.
A third fair of later origin was held in April.
1725 on the 14th August, the first Cawston sheep fair was held at
nearly
opposite the
Woodrow Inn and was solely for sheep and probably the largest in the country,
this fair was just one aspect of the great woollen industry that that occupied
our ancestors for centuries.
Fairs where also held at fairfields, formerly the Fairstead, where annual fairs
were held
and at what was Dents Bakery-Smith Garage,
the site
of Marshams Garage and markets
on Market Hill to the1900s.
Fair: February 3rd 1873:-
Few children attended school, they were
dismissed early and a holiday granted.
Fair: February 1st 1883:- On account of the fair in town, the roads round the
school were impassable for the
children, so the usual half-holiday was given.
Above from the booklet "The Centenary of Cawston Voluntary Controlled
School 1871-1971.
