Stourbridge

STOURBRIDGE, a chapelry, in the parish of St. Andrew the Less, or Barnwell, union of Cambridge, hundred of Flendish, county of Cambridge, 1½ mile (N. E. by N.) from Cambridge. This place is remarkable for its fair, one of the largest in the kingdom, which is held in a field to the east of Barnwell. It commences on September 18th, on which day it is proclaimed by the vice-chancellor, doctors, and proctors of the university of Cambridge, and the mayor and aldermen of that borough; the fair continues more than three weeks, and the staple commodities exposed for sale are, leather, timber, cheese, hops, wool, cattle, and, on the 25th, horses. The hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, here, for lepers, was anciently at the disposal of the burgesses of Cambridge; but about 1245, Hugh, Bishop of Ely, possessed the patronage of it, which was enjoyed by his successors till the suppression in 1497. Its chapel, called St. Mary's chapel, has been converted into a barn.