In 1853 the lord of the manor, Captain Matthew Liddon R.N., stated that a Fair and a market were granted to the Abbot of Forde in the reign of Edward II and in a paper read by E.T. Long in March 1950 to the Dorset Archaeological Society he said "Charmouth has sometimes been supposed to be dedicated to St. Matthew since a fair was granted to the town by Edward I to be held on his feast (2lst. Sept). Whether the fair which existed in the late nineteenth century on 10th. July was related to those fairs is impossible to say. Called by some "Gooseberry Fair" it was held in the Street opposite the Coach and Horses. Stalls were put up by Adams of Kilmington and in later years by Endicott of Axminster. Reginald Pavey can remember the gingerbread, pink and white striped rock and toys when I was a child of eight or nine, but younger people have other memories as the fair lasted until the 1914-18 war. There were donkey races up and down the street, a leg of mutton on a greasy pole, hot pennies heated in the fire of the bar by John Hodder on a shovel and thrown out of the window to the children to pick up. When the hotel had a porch treacle buns were suspended for boys to bob for. On one occasion, Fred Penny told me, a man hid on the top of the porch and poured flour on their faces which were nicely covered with treacle.