Horse fair and fun fair seen outside the west side of the Market Square. It would also have filled the Market Square. The Inn at the top left of the photograph is the Lamb, known by locals as The Tree because of the large Ash tree growing outside it. The Inn was completely demolished in 1960 to make way for building the Market Square Garage. The sign for the Talbot hotel shows the landlord to be W Norman. Almost every man wears a hat.
A fair was held in the Market Square at the same time as the Horse Fair. The square is filled with stalls which continue on down High Street. The sign 'Robinson Cheap Butcher' can be seen in the square.
Photograph of the Horse Fair looking west down Bridge Street. Percy Hughes was the licensee and he also had the butcher's shop next to the Horse Shoe inn. There was a devastating fire at the inn in 1925 and the building was gutted and rebuilt in its present position. Note the window protection of hurdles to stop the horses putting their heads through the glass. White discs on the horses' rumps show they have been sold. There is a large group of horses tethered outside the high wall that faces Church View. Note the car outside the butchers shop.
Scene of the horse fair in Bridge Street outside the Horse Shoe Inn and the butchers shop run by J Clark. It must have been taken well before 1925 because the Horse Shoe was gutted by fire that year and in 1925 it was owned by Percy Hughes who also had the butchers shop with his name over the door and on the east side of the building. Hurdles placed over the ground floor windows were to stop the horses from sticking their heads through the windows. Horses with a white spot on their rumps have been sold.
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.
