Hopes to return historic market and fair to Westbury

A WESTBURY councillor wants to see the return of charter markets and charter fairs to Westbury.

Councillor Stephen Miles is leading a task group on the town council to bring the events back to Westbury.

It would be the return of a historic institution, with Westbury’s charter fairs and markets originally conferred in 1460 under Henry VI.

Cllr Miles envisions that the town could see a weekly market and annual fun fair. He says the events were once the centrepiece of town life. “Charter fairs and charter markets are different from an ordinary fair and ordinary market because they’ve been granted by royal charter.

“I think they were very popular [in Westbury], and certainly carried on into the 1920s.

“I think the fun fair would certainly attract a lot of people, they always do. I think this would be quite a thing on the cultural calendar of the town.”

Cllr Miles will continue his research on charter fairs and markets before the task group meets to discuss the steps required to bring them to the town.