At the stroke of mid-day today (7 October) Mayor, Councillor Nick Fogg declared the 2023 Marlborough Mop open. This Mop is the first of two and called the ‘Little Mop’, next Saturday will see the ‘Big Mop’, although once there it’s difficult to discern any difference in size.
The Mops are a part of Marlborough’s history. Twice a year Marlborough’s High Street turns into an elongated fairground, from the Town Hall in the east right down to the Library at the western end, almost to the gates of St Peter’s.
Dating back to the thirteenth Century, in a Royal Charter from the then King John (who also happened to reside in Marlborough at this time), the Mops were established as ‘hiring fairs’, supposedly so named as many came equipped with mops in the hope of getting work.
But why two – either one or two weeks apart? Apparently this was for convenience. Convenience of both hiring employer and hired employee. If, in the first few days the ’employment’ didn’t work out (on either side), the employee/employer would part company and would then return to the next Mop Fair either to seek another employee or another employer. Or so it is said. Or maybe everyone enjoyed the first Mop so much that they wanted to have another one the week after. Maybe…..
Over the years the Showmans Guild who create and manage the Mops have established a well-managed system – quick to put up and even quicker to strike (take down). At each Mop weekend the High Street is closed from Friday mid-day until the early hours of Sunday. Below is a link to a short Marlborough.news YouTube time-lapse video, taken back in 2018 which shrinks the entire 48 hours of Mop weekend into four minutes:
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