Sutton Coldfield, The Driffold And Boddington Gardens c.1965

Photo ref: S339076

More about this scene

Whilst a driffold was set up near to the manor to impound stray animals, the area around the parish church was developing apace. In 1300 Guy de Bello Campo, Earl of Warwick, obtained a charter so that a market could be held on each Tuesday and for an annual fair to be held on the eve of Holy Trinity (5 June, according to the Julian calendar then in force). Animals, local produce and other implements such as weaponry and agricultural tools were sold at the junction of the three main streets, Coleshill Street, Mill Street and High Street, and Sutton soon became an important market town for the area. A second charter was brought in during 1353 for another fair to be held on St Martin's (Martinmas) Eve and Day (11 November). Tradition has it that St Martin was killed by being thrown under a moving mill wheel and so it was bad luck to use wheels of any sort, be they spinning wheels, farm carts or mill wheels, on this day. It made sense at this time of year to slaughter the cattle and other livestock for salting, pickling and drying to last through the winter. It would be several hundred years before Turnip Townshend, Jethro Tull and Thomas Coke would introduce their radical ideas for farming, such as growing crops to feed animals during the winter, mechanising agriculture and selective breeding, which would revolutionise not only farming but the whole way of life of the English.