Being a Tuesday I was joined in the second hour of the show, by Frances Clamp. Her subject today was markets and fairs held in Brentwood since 1227. Not a particularly war like subject you might think. But things are not always what they might seem to be. I’ll return to that in a moment.
But first off we looked at one of the oddball stories doing the rounds at present. This one concerned a one time owner of a construction business who seemingly employed an unqualified contractor to convert a kitchen into a dining room at his mansion. Apparently the work involved capping off an old gas pipe. Hours after the plumber had left the owners smelt gas and began searching for the source. The best action might have been to call the gas board rather than doing it themselves with the help of a cigarette lighter! The somewhat unorthodox approach unsurprisingly resulted in a massive explosion, blowing out all the windows and doors and moving the whole house off its foundations. Added to that the owner was underinsured to the tune of £100k and is now suing the plumber. So it is war! The case continues.
But back to Frances Clamp. Well as Frances explained, a charter granted to Brentwood, dating
back to 1227 has just been re-discovered. The charter grants the town the right to a weekly market day as well as an annual fair which can be held close to Wilsons Corner. So why might this be a case for war? Well Havering council has suggested that they might challenge any plans by Brentwood to expand their market in the light of the old charter being recovered. It seems that Henry III granted a similar charter to Havering in 1245 which states that the minimum distance between markets must be no less than 6 and two thirds of a mile, an ancient ruling based on how far a sheep could be walked in a day! Havering council used this charter to block other markets in the area, notably against Barking 20 years ago. However Havering could find Brentwood to be a more formidable opponent based on the fact that’s its charter pre-dates Havering’s by almost 20 years!
Watch this space but meantime you can listen again to what Frances had to say on this subject right here: – [audio:https://www.phoenixfm.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Bygones-4th-June.mp3|titles=Bygones 4th June]
OK. Get out there and enjoy the sunshine. See you again next week!
Scott
