Cloth Fair
Names
- Cloth Fair
Street/Area/District
- Cloth Fair
Maps & Views
- 1553-59 London (Strype, 1720): Cloth Fair
- 1553-9 London ("Agas Map" ca. 1633): Bartholomew Fair
- 1560 London (Jansson, 1657): Cloth Fair
- 1593 London (Norden, 1653 - British Library): Cloth Fair
- 1593 London (Norden, 1653 - Folger): Cloth Fair
- 1666 London after the fire (Bowen, 1772): Cloth Fair
- 1677 A Large and Accurate Map of the City of London (Ogilby & Morgan): Cloath Fair
- 1682 A prospect of London and Westminster: Cloth Fair
- 1720 London (Strype): Cloth Fair
- 1736 London (Moll & Bowles): Cloth Fair
- 1746 London, Westminster & Southwark (Rocque): Cloth Fair
- 1761 London (Dodsley): Cloth Fair
- 1799 London (Horwood): Cloth Fair
Descriptions
from A Dictionary of London, by Henry Harben (1918)
Cloth Fair
East out of West Smithfield at No. 59 to Kinghorn Street (P.O. Directory). In Farringdon Ward Without.
First mention: A tradesman's token, dated 1657 (Burn, 52).
Pye Powder Court held there during the first three days of Bartholomew Fair (Strype, ed. 1720, I. iii. 285).
Arms of Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, on one of the houses, said to have been in residence, 1795 (Gent. Mag. Lib.).
Recent proposal to pull it down and widen the thoroughfares opposed on account of the interest attaching to the street, being one of the oldest left in the City and retaining an appearance of antiquity.
Derives its name from the clothiers and drapers who inhabited it in former times, and attended the famous Bartholomew Fair.
from A New View of London, by Edward Hatton (1708)
Cloth Fair, betn Smithfield, (a little Sly from, and running parallel with Long lane) and Middle str. L. 140 Yds. It is in Form of a T the right end of the upper part running to Bartholomew Close, and the Left to Long lane.
from A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, by John Strype (1720)
Cloth Fair comes out of Smithfield, a Place generally inhabited by Drapers and Mercers, and is of some Note.
from London and Its Environs Described, by Robert and James Dodsley (1761)
Cloth Fair, Smithfield. King Henry II. granting to the priory of St. Bartholomew, the privilege of a fair to be kept annually at Bartholomew tide, the clothiers of England and the London drapers repaired thither, and had their booths and stall within the church yard of that prior; this place being built into a narrow street, still retains the name of Cloth Fair; and in conformity to its name several eminent woollen drapers still live there.
from Lockie's Topography of London, by John Lockie (1810)
Cloth-Fair, West Smithfield,— at 60, on the E. side the market by Long-lane, extending to King-st. it is continued by Middle-st. to 126, Aldersgate-st.
from A Topographical Dictionary of London and Its Environs, by James Elmes (1831)
Cloth Fair, West Smithfield, is on the east side of the market by Long-lane, and extends into King-street. It is continued by Middle-street to No. 126, Aldersgate-street. It derives its name from a grant of Henry II. to the Priory of St. Bartholomew, of the privilege of a fair to be kept annually at Bartholomew tide, to which the clothiers of England and the drapers of London repaired. Their booths were within the ancient church-yard on this spot, which still retains its name, and has many respectable woollen-drapers' shops.
from London Past and Present: Its History, Associations, and Traditions, by Henry Benjamin Wheatley and Peter Cunningham (1891)
Cloth Fair, West Smithfield, derives its name from the resort of the clothiers of England and the drapers of London to the churchyard of the Priory of St. Bartholomew, near Smithfield, where a fair—Bartholomew Fair—was kept every Bartholomew tide, and there, "on the vigil of the eve of St. Bartholomew," fit persons appointed by the Court of the Merchant Taylors' Company, attended with a silver standard yard, "to see that a proper yard measure be used," and to arrest and prosecute all such as were found in possession of an "unlawful yard."1
Cloth Fair comes out of Smithfield, a place generally inhabited by drapers and mercers, and is of some note.—Strype, B. iii. p. 284.
It is in form of a T, the right end of the upper part running to Bartholomew Close, and the left to Long Lane.—Hatton (1708), p. 18.
As late as 1815 Cloth Fair was "still occupied chiefly by tailors, clothiers, and what are called piece-brokers, dealers in materials for the use of tailors, and pieces or small remnants of cloth for repairs etc."2 A very few years since the piece-brokers were numerous. Some of the houses are old and picturesque; but houses of this class are every year disappearing.
1 Herbert, City Companies, vol. i. pp. 47, 399.
2 Brayley, vol. iii. p. 429.