Bartholomew Fayre returns this year on September 18-19 – hosted by The Charterhouse, and supported by Islington Council. In the past the event has run in the City in Cloth Fair and West Smithfield. It was started in 1133 to support Barts Hospital.
Charterhouse Square
The move shows the potential for new cross-boundary collaborations between local cultural and heritage attractions, likely to increase when the London Museum opens in November bringing some two million visitors a year.
A press release from Oliver Bennett says that “the Fayre will have music and roaming entertainment, crafts and wellbeing tents as well as plenty of food and drink – conjuring the colour and magic of the original Bartholomew Fayre, which ran from the years 1133 to 1855.
Bartholomew Fair painted by Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786-1846)
“There will be plenty for children and parents to do, including face-painting and crafts, plus for all visitors a good selection of talks and local walks, diving deep into the rich history of the Smithfield and Clerkenwell areas.
“As well as being entertained, at the Fayre you’ll also be able to meet a rich assortment of our friends and neighbours, including The Charterhouse, The Museum of the Order of St John, Bart’s Heritage, the London Borough of Islington and the imminent London Museum, for whom the Fayre is a curtain raiser. Join us on Friday 18 September 4-8pm, Saturday 19 September 1-7pm”
The release adds
“St Bartholomew’s Fayre began in 1133 and became an institution: one of the largest fayres in the country and a magical mixture of commerce, amusement and spectacle. Held in the Smithfield area, it attracted dance troupes, contortionists, musicians and orators, along with mercantile activity including the selling of cloth. Families organised their leisure time around it.
“The Victorians halted Bart’s Fayre in 1855. But in 2023 the City of London’s Destination City initiative revived it in time for the 900th celebrations of St Bartholomew’s the Great and St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
“Since then, Bart’s Fayre has grown seamlessly into its 21st century role, and has proved such an important fixture that in 2027, the newly-opened London Museum is to take the Fayre under its wing”.
The Fayre restaged
As the press release says, the Fayre was restaged by the City Corporation in 2023, across the Square Mile. Local residents and councillors organised events on the original site in Cloth Fair. I develop a website covering the history of the Fayre, and the programme, in partnership with the City Courant magazine. Here’s some links from that site:
- Website – Bartholomew and Cloth Fair 1133-2023
- Bartholomew Fair restaged – from 1923 to 2023 – Barts Hospital staged major events in 1923 and 1973, with others organised between then and 2023
- The story of Barthlomew Fair restaged – councillor Matthew Bell writes about the 2023 event
- Matthew Bell’s history of Bartholomew Fair
The Great Disputation on September 10
One of the traditions of the original Fair was a Disputation, originally on theological matters, but later of a more general nature, that took place on the Priory Grounds of St Bartholomew the Great. Great thinkers of the times came and took part in this. With the revival of the Fair in 2023, this tradition was also revived, with the topic this time being “This House believes that the love of money is the root of all the nation’s problems”. Video of the 2023 Disputation
In 2026 the proposition is that “This house believes that the West has not fought a just war since the Second World War”. Details here with tickets for the event at St Bartholomew the Great on September 10 at 7pm.
Other links
- The Charterhouse
- History of Charterhouse and the Square from the London Museum site
- The wild 700-year-long history of Bartholomew Fair from the London Museum site
Update
I couldn’t make it to the first day of Bartholomew Fayre, but very much enjoyed the programme on Saturday. As promised there were excellent stalls, talks and walks, music and performers including a magician, jugglers and Punch and Judy. It was a village fete bringing together Islington and the City – and some of the main cultural and heritage organisations.
Behind the scenes – and also on the ground – were The London Museum, the Museum of the Order of St John, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Barts Heritage and our hosts The Charterhouse. The Farringdon Practice were a sponsor.
Congratulations to Islington Council for its backing, and the organising team. Substantial credit for that support is due to Ruth Hayes, deputy Islington leader and her fellow Clerkenwell councillors.
The organising team included Mary-Anne Cooper from the council; Jackie Casey who also organised the Clerkenwell Festival; City councillor Matthew Bell and Charles Goodson-Wickes. Oliver Bennett managed the press releases.
Matthew campaigned for restoration of the Fayre in the City in 2023** and Charles has been a long-time facilitator of collaborations between heritage organisations. The Fayre demonstrates the potential for further collaboration.
Alec Forshaw, author of Smithfield: Past, Present and Future led a couple of walks during the afternoon. He said:
“I thought it was a really great success. Charterhouse Square was a perfect venue with enough space, expanses of grass, enclosure, shelter etc to accommodate everything and everybody, young and old. It bodes very well for the future.
“Personally, I was delighted that the walks, particularly the second, was so popular – I almost felt like the Pied Piper leading a seemingly endless stream of people out onto Carthusian Street! I hope that my voice was sufficiently stentorian!
“It was encouraging that there were so many young people, and people who didn’t really know the area and were really keen to see more – I’m sure they will return!
“Well done to everybody who made it all happen”.
** As I wrote above, back in 2023 the City Corporation picked up Matthew’s proposal for a revival of the Fayre – but turned it into a three-week City-wide extravaganza that cost £1,514,535.
Matthew and a group of local resident and organisations staged a modest complementary Cloth Fair, and I created a website to promote that and tell the story of the Fayre since the start in Cloth Fair in 1133. You’ll find the website here, including Matthew’s story, and that of earlier restaging from 1923 onwards.
I gather that the cost to Islington this year was about one percent of the City’s 2023 budget. The result was certainly closer to the original vision of Matthew and Cloth Fair group.
Next year the Fair may be picked up by the London Museum … but if not it would be a delight to return to Charterhouse Square.