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Question
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What was Westbury Hill Fair?
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Question asked on
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04 July 2011
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Answer
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Morris Marples wrote that it was 'a revel or festival instituted by the inhabitants of Westbury ….. maybe a survival of some older celebration'.
In 1882 it was held on the first Tuesday in September as Westbury Hill Sheep Fair. Applications for entry were to Mr. W. Beaven at Pound Farm, Westbury. Similar conditions prevailed up to 1904. Kelly's Directories state that the Fair continued to 1939.
It would seem to be one of a series of annual sheep fairs held on hills and downs throughout the county. It was sited two miles from Westbury and three miles from Warminster, possibly on Upton Cow Down where several tracks meet around Rainscomb Bottom.
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Bibliography
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Kelly’s Directories of Wiltshire, 1880 to 1939; White Horses and Other Hill Figures, by Morris Marples (1949)
