Page 13 - Jigsaw August 2018

A glance at the past...
Market Charter granted – Eric Franklin tells of pageant’s past...
By the time you receive this issue Charter Fair will have come and gone. Every
time you come into town you will see the welcome to Thrapston sign which includes “Market Charter granted 1205”. So, what is that about?
On 20th and 21st May 2000 a pageant of 800 years of Thrapston History was held on King John School field. Compiled by Tom Lowe and narrated by Shirley Haynes, various periods of the towns’ history from Roman times to 2000 were re-enacted by local people. One tableau showed King John granting market rights to Baldwin
de Vere, Lord of the Manor in 1205 in exchange for two palfreys, highly valued riding horses. These scenes are shown and have been taken from a locally produced commemorative souvenir booklet. The photographers were Cyril Musson, Philip Pike and me.
It is possible that the early markets were held in what is now called the Bull Ring, originally named Boongate. This is believed
to derive from boon meaning bondsmen and was the likely place where contracts were signed for a worker to serve his employer for a specified time.
In 2003 the Town Council set up the 800th Committee to arrange events to commemorate the 800th anniversary in 2005. In all, fourteen events took place over the year including concerts, exhibitions, a party in the park and culminated in sold-out performances of “Dick Whittington and his Cat” between Thursday 29th and Saturday 31st December in the Plaza. The cast are shown at the final curtain-call.
Commemorative pin badges were produced, as were booklets detailing each event.
Charter Fair in its current
form dates from 1991 with a
different theme each year. The
organising committee are always on the lookout for people to join them with new ideas. Contact them if you are interested at: thrapstoncharterfair@gmail.com
When I first came to Thrapston in 1982 I found a 1930’s issue of the county magazine which authoritatively announced, as part of a short article on Thrapston, that it was a town with no history. How wrong can you be!
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