This year is the 775 anniversary of Henry III granting a Royal   Charter to Barton Stacey to hold an annual fair on the feast of St Margaret ( 20 July in the West. 17th in the Easter church).  As this is possibly the oldest village  Fete/Fair in Hampshire, we believe it is likely that it has been held  continuously since those times.

To test your medieval knowledge which of the following questions are TRUE and which are  FALSE.

1. The medieval period was generally drab and grey with little access to bright colours
2. The English were multilingual
3. There was no access to piped water
4. Life was short most people lived on average to 35
5. The poor were in a state of near starvation
6. The death penalty was common in Medieval times
7. The medieval period was a period of filth and squalor. People rarely washed and would have stunk and had rotten teeth.
8. In Medieval times thousands of women were burned by the Inquisition as  witches .
9. People thought the earth was flat and the Church taught this as a matter of doctrine.
10. Rich people ate porpoise haggis.
11. Medieval shoes could be up to two feet long.
12. Medieval England was virtually empty.
13. Animals could be tried for – and convicted of- crimes.
14. There was a war between Oxford University students and local townspeople.
15. Farm animals were slightly larger than they are today.
16. In the 1200’s an English  monk predicted that cars and aeroplanes would be developed in the future.
17. Men wore figure hugging clothing (and corsets).
18. Peasants used to supplement their diet by living off beached whales washed up on the beaches when available
19. Neglecting to Wash Your Sheep would be punished
20. Playing Football was an Imprisonable Offence.

Click here for the Answers