Alnwick Market

Alnwick has been a market town from 1200s.

Originally held in the central market place (where stalls were erected 1850+) and in adjacent streets.

From William Davison’s Descriptive and Historical Views of Alnwick, we get fixed fair/sale day linked to Christian days.

  • 12th May, Saint Philip and Saint James fair for fat and lean cattle and hiring servant
  • Last Monday in July for fat and lean cattle sales
  • Michaelmas fair, first Tuesday in October, fat and lean cattle and horses
  • Saint Lucy Fair 24th December poultry
  • Palm fair in the week before Easter.

George Tate’s History of Borough, Castle and Barony of Alnwick says pre-1822 there were bi-weekly sales on Mondays.

Alnwick Market in the early 1890s

See also Market Cross and Pinfold.

In 1908, Alnwick’s mart moved from the market place to Wagonway Road. Here, gates and posts were of wood with AUDC (Alnwick Urban District Council) carved into a stone gateway. A wooden Rotunda sale ring was open to the sky and an auctioneers dias sat beneath a sound enhancing shield. This closed in the 1970s.