Bartholomew Fair Bartholomew Fair The Bartholomew Fair was one of London's pre-eminent summer Charter fairs. A charter for the fair was granted to Rahere by Henry I to fund the Priory of St Bartholomew; and from 1133 to 1855 it took place each year on 24 August within the precincts of the Priory at West Smithfield, outside Aldersgate of the City of London. The fair continued, after the Dissolution within the Liberty of the parish of St Bartholomew-the-Great. The site of Bartholomew Fair was the south-east side of Smithfield roundabout and was originally a cloth fair. Originally chartered as a three-day event,
Smithfield Show new Agricultural Hall in Islington, London, which had been purpose-built for it by the Club. The 1862 show attracted almost 135,000 visitors, a record, and in later years there were regularly more than 100,000. During and immediately after the Second World War, from 1939 to 1948, the show was not held; the Royal Agricultural Hall was requisitioned for the GPO in 1943. Annual shows recommenced in 1949, at the Earl's Court Exhibition Centre in Earl's Court, London; the last show was held there in 2004. It was the last major livestock show in London. The Royal Smithfield Club was named