The Walnut Fair Audio Guide

Explore the exhibition The Croydon Walnut Fair Reimagined with Toys! in the company of Carole Roberts, President of the Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society.

Transcript of the audio guide

Introduction

Hello, I’m Carole Roberts, President of the Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society and I have been researching Croydon’s Walnut Fair for a long time.

The Croydon Fair

Croydon’s first fairs were authorised from the year 1276 when the Archbishop of Canterbury granted a charter to Croydon. The Walnut Fair which started on 2nd October and lasted three days was authorised by a charter in the 14th century. It was a trade fair, so for the sale of particularly horses and cattle, but from early days it was also an opportunity for a pleasure fair with stalls and entertainment. The last Croydon pleasure fair took place in 1868. The horse and cattle fair lasted for some years after that.

Why the Walnut Fair?

Croydon’s fair lasted until 1868 but why was it called the walnut fair? Because it took place in the walnut season, the first week in October, and became the known place to buy and sell walnuts. At the fair walnuts would be on display in many of the booths and boys would be employed to crack open the walnuts for buyers.

Richardson’s Theatre

Richardson’s was a travelling theatre. His shows were short, to keep people’s attention, and so that he could hold as many shows in a day as possible. These would start with a tragedy, always with a ghost, then there would be a comic song and a pantomime, all in about 20 minutes

Clarke from Astley’s

Clarke from Astley’s was shown in this picture of the Croydon Walnut Fair in 1833. This was John Clarke who had a circus. He had learned his trade when in 1819 he joined the circus in London created by Philip Astley, who is considered as the father of the modern circus. Clarke’s own circus included a tightrope walker, sometimes have a pole as seen here, sometimes not. They would go through hoops and perform somersaults, and sometimes stand on a chair. There would also be riders on horses. Sometimes the rider would go into a sack a woman and come out looking like a man.

Wombwell’s

Wombwell’s visited the Walnut Fair every two years. It was a menagerie, that is a collection of animals. These would include animals that most people of Croydon in the nineteenth century would not have seen except in books, such as lions, tigers, camels and elephants. Visitors who paid their money would see the animals being fed, and sometimes performing, and there would be a brass band playing. One year when Wombwell’s was visiting Croydon an elephant escaped in the middle of the night. It walked past a night watchman in Croydon High Street, giving him the fright of his life, to the confectioner’s shop where he had been given buns. As no one answered he broke the window with his trunk and stole some buns.

Curiosities

Curiosities were popular at the Walnut and other fairs and one of them was Learned pigs. People in Georgian England were used to seeing horses do clever things but they were really surprised when they saw pigs being clever. The first was called Toby and was shown in salons in the 1780s and didn’t go to fairs. Soon other pigs were going to fairs, picking out a card chosen by a member of the crowd or adding up sums.

Peep Shows

Peep shows were a chance to see something people wouldn’t otherwise see, such as a faraway land or a battlefield. Having paid their penny visitors would peep into a little spyhole in a large wooden box like a theatre. By pulling strings on the side the showman would shift painted scenes, one after the other, along with an elaborate ‘patter’ to describe and tell the story. Often here would be a number of spyholes so that several people could watch at once. The showmen carried these ‘Raree Shows’ on their backs, setting them up on folding trestle tables for performances – sometimes with accompanying music or a fanfare to draw the crowd.

Toy Fairs

As well as being known as a walnut fair, Croydon was also known as a toy fair. The toys they sold were quite small, so that they were not too expensive and most people could buy them. They included dolls, flags, swords, whistles and drums, wooden animals and simple moving toys.

Gingerbread

Made from expensive honey and spices a piece of gingerbread bought and eaten at the fair was considered to bring good luck. There was an ancient folk belief that gingerbread had medicinal and magical qualities, and girls who bought gingerbread men – known as ‘husbands’ might hope to find a real one in the coming year.  Originally made from bread, ale, spices and honey, mixed with saffron and pepper, the recipes changed over time, and might be either a rich cake, or the more familiar hard ginger nut biscuit. Elaborate shapes were pressed into moulds and the most expensive might be gilded with gold leaf – or a cheaper substitute called ‘Dutch Gilt’.

Waxworks

Travelling waxworks were regular features touring the seasonal fair circuits in the 19th century. Before photography had been invented seeing three dimensional physical likenesses enabled people to feel close national events, famous people or notorious villains.