It would have been a very exciting weekend in Fairford last weekend 500 years ago with lots of hustle and bustle as townsfolk tidied up the town ready for a visit from the young 29 year old, King Henry VIII and his small entourage, writes Chris Roberts.

He probably didn’t have his usual 1,000 strong entourage with him as he was staying for only a few days at each place on his itinerary.

In readiness for his stay with the Lord of the Manor, Sir Edmund Tame, the whole town was involved in getting Fairford spick and span as streets were swept, St Mary’s Church was cleaned, carts went out to get extra food from surrounding towns and young boys were sent out to catch as many rabbits as they could for the dinner table.

And, even before the visit, the king’s officers came to inspect the accommodation and facilities to make sure it was all fit for a king.

Sir Edmund rode out with his son, also called Edmund, and a small welcoming committee to meet the king on his arrival at Lechlade and escorted him back to Fairford.

A few weeks previously in June, King Henry VIII had returned from the ‘Field of the Cloth of Gold’ meeting with Francis I of France and each king had tried to outshine the other with dazzling tents and clothes, huge feasts, music, jousting and games.

The tents and costumes displayed so much cloth of gold that the kings’ meeting was named after it.

During his visit to Fairford, the king was feasted, been deer hunting, went to church on Sunday and admired the beautiful – now world-famous – stained glass windows that were completed just three years before the king’s visit.

King Henry had also knighted Sir Edmund’s teenage son, Edmund, who had made a great impression on the royal visitor.

Whilst the king stayed with Sir Edmund in the ‘big house’, extra guests were housed in local houses or a camp set up north of the town.

There must have been a large number of servants and horses to stable.

This was not the first royal visit to Sir Edmund Tame’s house as, in 1502, just 18 years before King Henry VIII’s visit, his father King Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York had also visited Fairford at the end of August on their way back to London from South Wales.

They also very likely visited the Parish Church, which would have just been completed, but without the stained glass windows at that time as these were not completed until 1517.

Hopefully, Fairford will have the opportunity to commemorate these royal visits next year from June 11-13 at Fairford Festival, when the festival theme will be Tudor. Thank you to Fairford History Society for this wonderful story.