Mop Fair

History of Sodbury Mop

Ever since the town was created by William Crassus in the twelfth century, Chipping, or Market, Sodbury has been the venue for all manner of markets and fairs. The first Royal Charter was given to Crassus in 1227, but the development of “Hiring or Mop Fairs” can be traced to the fourteenth century with the passing of the Statute of Labourers in 1351 by Edward III.

This Statute was aimed at controlling the wages of servants after the Black Death. Labour was short and demands for more money by labourers was rife

The Statute, enacted by the landowners, put controls on wages and hiring took place at the fairs. The servants went to the fairs bearing an emblem of their trade and household servants carried a mop. Household staffs were a significant percentage of those available for hire and the name Mop Fair became established. To quote an 1867 document “the hiring of servants was accompanied by cake and orange stalls, shows, roundabouts, fiddling, dancing and all manner of high jinks”. Local schools were given the Friday off to join the festivities, but there was much concern “that excessive drinking plays a most conspicuous part at these gatherings”. The hiring element died out in the late 19th century, but the twice yearly Mop Fair continues.

Chipping Sodbury Mop

Following a death from a shooting incident around 1904, when a young boy, Charlie Morgan, whilst he was on the roundabout ride, was hit by a stray bullet from the shooting gallery, the fair was moved from the Street to the Rag (Couzens Close) The Mop Fair moved back to the Street around 1930 where it has been held ever since.

Today there is much concern about the merits or demerits of the Mop but this is nothing new. The following is a quote from the Fly Leaf – the Old Sodbury Parish Magazine. “Mops then, are unsatisfactory as to the purpose for which they are intended, they cause much drunkenness and other vice, and are a source of great annoyance to the respectable inhabitants of the towns in which they are held; and, on all these accounts, the sooner they are swept off the face of the earth the better for farmers, for their servants, and for society at large.” The date – February 1878!

Original work by Jim Elsworth, Sodbury and District Historical Society.