Bartholomew Fair

A charter for the fair was granted by King Henry I to fund the Priory of St Bartholomew in 1133.

Granted by charter from King Henry I to Rahere to fund the Priory of St Bartholomew in 1133, the fair became London's most important fair, it took place each year on 24 August within the precincts of the Priory at West Smithfield, outside Aldersgate of the City of London.

The Mayor would stop at Newgate Prison to accept a cup of sack (fortified white wine) from the governor.

The fair featured sideshows, prize-fighters, musicians, wire-walkers, acrobats, puppets, freaks and wild animals.

John Evelyn also refers in his diary to having visited "the celebrated follies of Bartholomew Fair" on 16 August 1648 .