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some five years ago, when, after more than four centuries
of obscurity, it was brought to light and suitably mounted
for preservation and exhibition in one of the principal
rooms at the Town Hall.
As early as 1267-8 (51 Henry III.) a provision was made for
the protection of the public health in an enactment against the
sale of contagious or unwholesome food, and corrupted wine,
under pain of amerciament for the first offence, pillory
for the second, and imprisonment for the third.
That Westminster early enjoyed the favour of both King
and Parliament has been shown by the reference already
made to the distinction conferred upon it in 1352, when it
was constituted by Statute one of the ten towns in England
where the staple or market for wool and other commodities
should be held. But nearly a hundred years previously
(1256) Henry III. had granted the inhabitants the privilege
of holding a weekly market and an annual fair in "Touthull,"
the market on Mondays, and the fair on "the eve, day, and
day following St. Mary Magdalene" (July 2f, 22, and 23.)
This patent was confirmed and extended by a charter of
Edward I. (1298.)
Other grants for the convenience of the inhabitants have
from time to time been made, and the charters have recently
been restored and preserved in similar manner to the foregoing;
but further notice here is forbidden, since they have no
direct bearing on the duties of the local governing bodies
past or present.
Knightsbridge Little is chronicled concerning Knightsbridge
anterior to the Reformation. Mr. Davis in his
"Memorials," refers to the rights exercised over the district
by the Monks of Westminster, including the holding of a
market and a fair, and the erection of a gallows tree. The
existence of a market, which was continued until early in
the present century, points to the locality having been
more numerously inhabited than the earliest books of the
Overseers (1561-2) indicate, for there were not more than a