URPoint Details
Horse Fair – September In the early 19th century Howden became famous throughout Europe for its horse fair, held every September. In Georgian times, the fair was quoted in The Sporting Magazine in 1807 as being the "largest fair for horses in the Kingdom"
The fair, at its height, attracted all the principal horse dealers from every part of the United Kingdom. It is estimated that up to 4,000 horses were displayed for sale every day of the fair and that the total worth of this kind of sale was £200,000.
Representatives of the British Army attended the fair, and it is thought that Wellington's cavalry used horses bought at Howden in the Napoleonic Wars.
- Type:
- Events