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In 1206 King John granted to the monks of Rochester the right to hold a fair on the 26th to 28th August each year. It became known as St. Dunstan's Fair. Henry Smetham in his 'History of Strood' 1899 writes: 'Strood Fair, as we now behold it, is but an attenuated ghost of its former glories. In the middle ages it was, indeed, a great institution, useful in disseminating commodities among the people, huge in its dimensions, and well stocked with costly goods of every description, brought here from all parts of the kingdom, as well as other wares imported from abroad.' (Note that a part of Strood (Stroud Intra) was then within the city of Rochester.) |