Reprinted from the Chipping Norton News.

Market & Mop: the origins

Local historian, David Eddershaw sent The News this account of the early history of the Market which gave Chipping Norton its name. The photographs of the market in the early 20th century are produced with kind permission of Dermot Morris, Museum Curator.

Eight hundred years ago this year, in 1204, William Fitzalan succeeded to his family’s lordship of a little village called Norton. One of his first actions was to obtain a charter from King John granting him the right to hold a fair in his new manor. He was following the example of many other lords of manors who were establishing markets and fairs on their estates at that time. He hoped to increase his income through tolls and fines levied on those who came to trade. Fairs in the middle ages were mainly trading events, not just for amusement, and if successful they could attract large numbers of traders and customers, adding to the prosperity of the town rather like a new shopping centre today.

At that time the village of Norton was just a cluster of houses around the castle and church at the bottom of the hill. It may already have had a small weekly market but Fitzalan planned something far more ambitious. It was probably he who laid out the huge marketplace higher up the hillside, big enough for sheep and cattle pens and all manner of stalls and sideshows. He leased building plots around it to the more prosperous of his tenants to encourage them to build houses and workshops there. The plots were narrow so that he could fit more in and maximise his profit, and behind each was a long strip of garden ground with access from the back lane. The shape of the town centre today still preserves William Fitzalan’s design.

This enterprise was so successful that the little village of Norton prospered and grew to become the trading and social centre for the whole area, so well known for its markets and fair that people began to call it ‘Chipping’ Norton - the place with the market – and so it earned the name it is so proud of today.The weekly market in 2004 is only a shadow of its medieval form when it filled the whole marketplace and included sales of livestock, especially sheep, as well as other local produce. Other trades grew up because of it, such as leather processing: some of the wealthiest men in the town in the 17th century were tanners and one tannery lasted until the 20th century. Today the role of the market has been largely replaced by retail shops. In the middle ages most shops were workshops where craftsmen sold the items they produced.

William Fitzalan’s fair has also changed almost beyond recognition. Medieval fairs were even bigger trading occasions than markets. This one started on a religious festival called the ‘Invention of the Holy Cross’ celebrated on May 3, and lasted for four days. Other fairs were added in later centuries and traders, including merchants buying Cotswold wool, were attracted to the town from far and wide. This in turn created a demand for hotels and inns close to the marketplace – something else which has become a lasting feature of the town. A group of merchants formed a guild and built the Guildhall in Middle Row for their meetings. Fairs held in the autumn were traditionally used for hiring labourers and servants and the Chippy Mop began in this way and got its name because of the numbers of domestic servants who went there looking for a job. Those who failed or didn’t like their new employer got a second chance at the ‘Runaway Mop’ a few weeks later.

Chipping Norton today owes its name, its shape, its prosperity and its importance largely to William Fitzalan’s far-sighted enterprise eight hundred years ago. Without this it would still be just a village and perhaps some other place like Hook Norton or even Charlbury might have become the market town for the area. There’s plenty for Chippy to celebrate in 2004!

David Eddershaw