1st. The fair shall continue for four days, viz., on the eve and the day of the blessed Mary Magdalene and the two next days following. 2nd. The whole soil of Boutport Street and the other streets within the said Borough belongs to the Mayor and Comonaltie of the said Borough during the fair and until 12 o’clock at noon on the day afterwards. 3rd. The said Mayor and Comonaltie may set and demise the said soil one day before the eve of the said fair, and have the whole profits of the said fair and the bailiff of the said Borough shall collect and receive the same. 4th. Also they shall there have the cognizance of Pleas and a court of Pie Poudre, as incident to all fairs. [Illustration _From a Lithograph_] [_by J. Powell._ QUEEN ANNE’S WALK AND THE QUAY, BARNSTAPLE. ] The time for holding the fair was changed subsequently, probably during the reign of King James I., the new regulations being as follows:— If the 19th of September be on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, the fair shall finish on the following Saturday night, but if on either of the three subsequent days it shall be allowed to continue until Friday in the next week. Another change was made in the year 1852, the fair being then fixed to commence on the Wednesday nearest to September 19th, and to continue for the two days following only, and this is the present regulation respecting its date and duration. By the latest arrangement the dealings in horses and ponies are limited to Thursday, the second day, the first being still devoted to the sale of cattle and sheep, and the third being _par excellence_ the pleasure day, although the shows, swings, “horses,” and other attractions, and the stalls, do a great trade on the other days also. The place for holding the fair has also been changed. A century ago the cattle were disposed of in Boutport Street, the horses in the North Walk, and the shows and stalls for pleasure-seekers were located in the Square. For a few years, about 1880, the cattle and sheep were placed in Victoria Road, but by the present arrangement the cattle and sheep are disposed of in the Cattle Market, the horses in the Strand, and the pleasure-seekers find their shows and other attractions in the North Walk. It has already been mentioned that the cattle and sheep now sold, though still many, are not so many as in the old days when Barnstaple fair was the only event of the kind in North Devon. In the year 1824, it was recorded that 1,440 bullocks were driven in by the northern entrance into the town, over Pilton Bridge, of which not 300 were driven out by that road, and of these more than half were sold, and that it was calculated that £20,000 was expended in the purchase of cattle.