Mop fairs date from 1351 when after the Black Death pandemic decimated the work force, hiring fairs were introduced to match employers to workers.

Until around the start of the first world war, agricultural labourers and domestic servants would gather in the Cirencester streets and the market place, sporting some sort of badge or tool to denote their speciality. Shepherds held a crook, cowmen brought wisps of straw, and housemaids held brooms or mops; hence the name “Mop fair”.

Cirencester usually has Mop fairs on two successive Mondays in October each year; the first before the 11th and the second a week later. If the second one actually falls on the 11th, there’s a 3rd Mop the following week.