Horse Fair pre-WW I outside the Wheat Sheaf inn. Boys are collecting horse manure for vegetable gardens. Note the windows are quite different in what is now the HSBC bank and the butchers. The Wheat Sheaf became the Post Office about 1971 and became a private house in 2010 when the post office moved to the Town Hall and it became a private house.

Newspaper. Popularity of the three-day horse fair & baker's cart upset

Bridge St. Horses walking free

Horse fair in Church View

Running a horse past Sherborne House to show its soundness. Many people looked forward to the Horse Fair because they met friends from neighbouring villages who walked over, plus, the men who brought the horses travelled the country and they brought something of the wider outside into Bampton.

Horses on Church Green. Men with white flags kept the horses under control. A strip of white rag was tied on the tail of a horse when it was sold. In later years, a white sticker was stuck to their rumps. Note the temporary railing in front of Church Gate house. Ladies and children stayed safe in the churchyard while they watched proceedings.

Percy Hughes butcher's shop next to the Horse Shoe before it was rebuilt

img168 Horse Fair, ponies on Church Green sold for pit ponies

A personal account of time at the Horse Fair

Horses on Church Green. Men with white flags kept the horses under control. A strip of white rag was tied on the tail of a horse when it was sold. In later years, a white sticker was stuck to their rumps. Note the temporary railing in front of Church Gate house. Ladies and children stayed safe in the churchyard while they watched proceedings