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Summary

A field on Ox Hill named as Fair Fields on the 19th century Tithe Apportionment may have been the location of a Town Fair, possibly St Calixtus Fair.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FAIR? (Early Medieval to XVIII - 1066 AD (Between) to 1800 AD (Between))

Full description

Devon County Council, 1838-1848, Tithe Mosaic, approximately 1838-1848 (Cartographic). SDV349431.

Field 372 is named as Fair Fields on the Colyton Tithe Map and Apportionment.

Torrance, J., 2008, A lost chapel in Colyton, 95-103 (Article in Serial). SDV365827.

The top of Ox Hill is divided into three fields on the Tithe Map; Fair Fields (Plot 372), Chaple Close (Plot 373) and Starve Acre (Plot 374). Before the enclosure it was an open common and the references to a chapel, thought to be the chapel of St Calixtus, and a fair suggest that this was the site of St Calixtus' Fair, later known as the October Fair. The fair was first granted to the Manor of Colyton in 1207, to be held eight days after Michaelmas for seven days ie 6th-14th Ocober, the final day being the feast day of St Calixtus.

Kowaleski, M., 2010, Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs to 1516: Devon (Website). SDV365192.

Kowaleski notes that the fair at Colyton was known as the Calixtus fair as it ended on that feast day. By 1281, the fair may have lasted for fifteen days. This was one of the most important fairs in Devon.

Pady, C., 2022, Field Names, Colyton, south of Ox Hill, East Devon (Interpretation). SDV364875.

The field name Fair Fields is documented in the 19th century Tithe Apportionment and may indicate that this is where the town fair took place, probably in the medieval to early post-medieval period. The book of Devon Fairs suggest that St Calixtus Fair was the largest fair in Colyton and Fair Fields may have been the location of this fair. A chapel is known to have been located close to the fair and with the field to the north named Chapel Close (or Ox Field), makes for compelling evidence that these are the locations of St Calixtus Fair and St Calixtus Chapel (see MDV11267).
The book of Devon Fairs also mentions St Calixtus fair of Colyton as being at the Feast of St Calixtus for 8 days in early October.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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