The People of Reading: Trade
The Abbey stimulated trade in the town. In Saxon times the market was held in front of St Mary's Church. After 1121 it moved to the triangle of ground by St Laurence's Church and the West Gate and much extra trade came from the visiting pilgrims staying in the Hospitium nearby. Major trading events were held three times a year, by special royal charter, inside the Abbey in the large open area in front of the Abbey Church, called then and now the
Forbury. These fairs each lasted for four days. They included such entertainments as we now associate with fairs but were essentially for the buying and selling of goods, people coming from miles around for the occasion. The noise and hubbub was a great distraction to the monks going about their silent daily routine in the cloister area a few yards away. The hospitality of both monks and townsfolk was stretched by the arrival of important guests for the Abbot. A visit from the king included his family, their attendants and his guards and advisors and even the mediaeval equivalent of government departments. Lodgings would be sought in the town as well as within the Abbey walls and meetings of Parliament at the Abbey doubled the population of Reading.
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A 14th/15th century shoe, found during the excavations of
the Abbey waterfront in 1981. 1450 leather items were
recovered from this site, many of them medieval. Tanning was
a major industry in Reading from the early Middle Ages
through to the 19th century (1982.1.sf1087)
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