This year Melksham celebrates 800 years of being granted a charter to hold a Michaelmas (pronounced mikalmas) Fair and the town is rightly celebrating this event but what is Michaelmas and why have a fair at Michaelmas?
It all stems back to fifth century Rome where they set apart a day to honour the angels and thank God for his love and protection. The angels are spiritual beings who worship God, are sent to guide and protect God’s people and their chief is Michael. The way that the church honoured the angels, was to hold a special Mass, or communion service, which was called Michael’s Mass, hence Michaelmas. As with Christmas, Christ’s Mass, Michaelmas was deemed to be an especially holy day and there was an obligation upon Christians to attend communion. Since Melksham’s church was named in honour of Michael and All Angels, this would have been a time of great celebration which probably included a Harvest Festival and collecting the tithe. It was also the time of an annual hiring fair where workers were paid for work done and hired for the next year.
The spiritual importance of celebrating God’s love and protection at Michaelmas is largely forgotten these days but its importance has stretched far beyond this spiritual origin. Michaelmas was so important that it became one of our financial quarter days, when accounts are settled and rents paid, as well as Michaelmas Term being the start of both the legal and academic years.
Barry Blackford
