The Keys of Winchester on St Giles’s Eve

One of the great fairs of medieval England was held on St Giles’s Hill outside Winchester, given by William the Conqueror to the Bishop of Winchester and lengthened by Henry III from three days to sixteen. On St Giles’s Eve the mayor, bailiffs and citizens handed the keys of the city’s four gates to the bishop’s officers. While the fair lasted every shop in Winchester was shut, the bishop took toll on goods for seven miles round, Southampton included, and a court of his called the Pavilion tried causes. The fair was laid out in streets for different wares, with the nearby monasteries keeping their own shops and each county its own station.