Milton Abbas Street Fair

The Villagers of Milton Abbas invite you to their 18th Century Street Fair Whatever the weather, we hope you join in the fun of our Street Fair. We have tried to recreate the flavour of a country occasion using costume, rural crafts, entertainment and craft demonstrations. We expect to have a large number of stalls, with food and drink venues throughout The Street and Lake Field.

We hope that you will join in the spirit of the day and spend your money freely in support of local good causes which also benefit the communities in the surrounding villages and our nominated external charity for this year.

The ancient town of Middleton was founded in 934AD and was clustered around the Benedictine Abbey, nestling in the Delcombe Valley. King Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, granted the old town a market and a fair. This fair took place on St Sampson’s Day. St Sampson was the patron saint of the ancient town and the Abbey.

Joseph Damer, Earl of Dorchester, had this busy town removed in the 18th Century and in 1773 started to rebuild the present village in the next valley to make way for new landscaped estates, including a lake on the site of the old town, designed by Capability Brown.In 1973 the villagers recreated this country fair to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the building of the present day village. The Fair is on the last Saturday of July, the nearest to the original St Sampson’s Day, 28th July, and is held every two years.The Milton Abbas Street Fair has now become an established event, looked forward to by both residents and visitors alike. The 2025 Fair will be held on Saturday 26th July.