First recorded in 1107 the Chichester Sloe Fair continues on 20 October each year, apart from those years, such as 2019, when the 20th falls on a Sunday and it takes place on Monday 21st.  Today the fair is simply a fun fair, held in the Northgate Car Park.  The name ‘Sloe Fair’ is said to come from the fact that a sloe – blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) – tree stood in the field which later became a car park.  Thus Chichester’s Sloe Fair, like Chertsey’s Black Cherry Fair, is devoid of the fruit from which it takes its name.