Royal Show

This article is about the agricultural show most recently held in Warwickshire, England. For agricultural shows generally, including other shows known as a "Royal Show", see Agricultural show.

The Royal Show, also known as the Royal Agricultural Show, was an annual agricultural show held by the Royal Agricultural Society of England every year from 1839 to 2009. The event encompassed all aspects of farming, food and rural life - from the best of British livestock to the latest business and technological innovations in the farming industry. Over 1,000 stands, world-class livestock and equine classes attracted visitors from over 100 countries.^[1]

Logo of the last Royal Show in 2009

The Royal Show gave the name Park Royal to the part of west London which once hosted the show. The Royal Agricultural Society of England had planned to make the site a permanent home for the Royal Show. It was not a success and the Society sold the land in 1907.

History

On the road from 1839 to 1902

Between 1839 and 1902 the Royal Show was held at various locations across the country:^[2][3]

Year	Town/City	Venue	Rf.
1839	Oxford		[3]
1840	Cambridge		[3]
1841	Liverpool	Falkner's Fields	[2][3]
1842	Bristol		[3]
1843	Derby		[2]
1844	Southampton		[2]
1845	Shrewsbury		[2]
1846	Newcastle		[2]
1847	Northampton		[2]
1848	York		[2]
1849	Norwich		[2]
1850	Exeter	Exhibition Fields, Whipton Barton[4]	[2]
1851	Windsor		[2]
1852	Lewes		[2]
1853	Gloucester		[2]
1854	Lincoln		[2]
1855	Carlisle		[2]
1856	Chelmsford		[2]
1857	Salisbury		[2]
1858	Chester		[2]
1859	Warwick	Warwick Racecourse	[2]
1860	Canterbury		[2]
1861	Leeds		[2]
1862	London	Battersea	[2]
1863	Worcester		[2]
1864	Newcastle		[2]
1865	Plymouth		[2]
1866	Cancelled due to an outbreak of Rinderpest		[3]
1867	Bury St Edmunds		[2]
1868	Leicester		[2]
1869	Manchester		[2]
1870	Oxford		[2][3]
	Glasgow		[3]
1871	Cardiff		[3]
	Wolverhampton	Wolverhampton Race Course	[2][3][5]
1872	Cardiff		[2]
1873	Hull		[2]
1874	Bedford		[2]
1875	Taunton		[2]
1876	Birmingham	Aston Park	[2]
1877	Liverpool	Newsham Park	[6]
1878	Bristol		[3]
1879	London	Queen's Park	[3][7]
1880	Carlisle		[3]
1881	Derby		[3]
1882	Reading	Palmer Park	[8]
1883	York		[3]
1884	Shrewsbury		[3]
1885	Preston		[3]
1886	Norwich		[3]
1887	Newcastle		[3]
1888	Nottingham	Wollaton Park	[3]
1889	Windsor	Great Park	[3]
1890	Plymouth		[3]
1891	Doncaster		[3]
1892	Warwick	Castle Park	[3]
1893	Chester		[3]
1894	Cambridge		[3]
1895	Darlington		[3]
1896	Leicester		[3]
1897	Manchester		[3]
1898	Birmingham	Four Oaks Park, Sutton Coldfield	[3]
1899	Maidstone		[3]
1900	York		[3]
1901	Cardiff	Sophia Gardens	[3][9]
1902	Carlisle		[3]

Park Royal from 1903 to 1905

Following the 1879 event at Queen's Park, which incurred a large financial loss due to bad weather, the Royal Agricultural Society made the decision to look for a permanent showground, in order to reduce costs and make additional income from letting the site for other events. Eventually a 102 acres (41 ha) site was leased near Twyford Abbey in West London, and given the name Park Royal by the society, a name it continues to bear. The first show was held on the site in 1903.^[10]

The attendances at the 1903 show were disappointing, and even worse at the shows in the two following years. By then it was decided that the idea of a permanent show had been a mistake, and that the travelling show should resume. The show grounds were sold for industrial use in 1907.^[10]

Back on the road from 1906 to 1962

Year	Town/City	Venue	Rf.
1906	Derby	Osmaston Park	[3]
1907	Lincoln	West Common	[3]
1908	Newcastle		[3]
1909	Gloucester		[3]
1910	Liverpool	Wavertree Playground	[3]
1911	Norwich	Crown Point	[3]
1912	Doncaster		[3]
1913	Bristol		[3]
1914	Shrewsbury		[3]
1915	Nottingham	Wollaton Park	[11]
1916	Manchester		[3]
1917	No show		[3]
1918	No show		[3]
1919	Cardiff	Sophia Gardens	[3]
1920	Darlington		[3]
1921	Derby	Osmaston Park	[3]
1922	Cambridge	Trumpington	[3]
1923	Newcastle		[3]
1924	Leicester		[3]
1925	Chester		[3]
1926	Reading	Caversham Park (later Henley Road Cemetery)	[3][12]
1927	Newport	Tredegar Park	[3]
1928	Nottingham	Wollaton Park	[3]
1931	Warwick	Castle Park	[3]
1934	Ipswich	Chantry Park	[13]
1936	Bristol	Ashton Court	[3]
1937	Wolverhampton	Wrottesley Park	[5][14]
1938	Cardiff		[3]
1939	Windsor		[3]
1947	Lincoln	West Common	[3]
1948	York	York Racecourse	[3]
1949	Shrewsbury		[3]
1950	Oxford		[3]
1951	Cambridge	Trumpington	[3]
1952	Newton Abbot		[3]
1953	Blackpool		[3]
1954	Windsor		[3]
1955	Nottingham	Wollaton Park	[15]
1956	Newcastle	Town Moor	[3]
1957	Norwich	Royal Norfolk Showground, Costessey	[3]
1958	Bristol		[3]
1959	Oxford		[3]
1960	Cambridge	Trumpington	[3]
1961	Cambridge	Trumpington	[3]
1962	Newcastle	Town Moor	[3]

Stoneleigh Park from 1963 to 2006

From 1963, the Royal Show was held in Stoneleigh Park (previously known as the National Agricultural Centre or NAC) near Stoneleigh in Warwickshire, England. The first show at Stoneleigh lasted four days and attracted 111,916 visitors.^[16]

The 2007 show

More than 140,000 visitors were expected to attend the 2007 show;^[17] however, bad weather forced the show to close early for the first time in its history.^[18] Torrential rains left the showground saturated and police and show organisers took the decision to close the show a day ahead of schedule "to ensure the safety and welfare of the public, traders and exhibitors".

Two of the showground's car parks were closed on Monday evening after drivers had to be towed free. A further 30 acres (12 ha) of barley and hay fields were mown to provide additional parking on the Tuesday.^{[citation needed]}

The decision was described as "heartbreaking" by the Royal Agricultural Society of England. John Moverley, RASE Chief Executive, said the financial implications of the wet weather and closing the show early were being assessed. "We haven’t got exact figures, but it looks as though we are down by about 10% for the first two days on last year," he said.^[18]

The end

The Royal Show was again run at Stoneleigh in 2008. However, on 3 April 2009, organisers said the 2009 show would be the last.^[16][19]

The Agricultural Buildings Show has taken over in part from the Royal Show at Stoneleigh Park.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Royal Welsh Show largest agricultural show in Europe

References

1. The Royal Show
2. Miskell, Louise. "Putting on a show: the Royal Agricultural Society of England and the Victorian town, c.1840–1876" (PDF). British Agricultural History Society. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
3. "Royal Agricultural Shows". Grace's Guide. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
4. "Royal Agricultural Society: Twelfth Annual meeting and exhibition". Morning Post. 16 July 1850.
5. "Prizewinning sheep's wool, Royal Show, Wrottesley Park". Staffordshire Past Track. Staffordshire County Council. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
6. "The Royal Agricultural Show at Liverpool". Wrexham Guardian. 14 July 1877. Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via National Library of Wales.
7. "Queen's Park". Brent Heritage. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
8. "1882 Royal Agricultural Show". Grace's Guide. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
9. "Sophia Gardens Field". Retrieved 8 April 2021.
10. "Royal Agricultural Society Show". Brent Heritage. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
11. "1915 Royal Agricultural Show". Grace's Guide. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
12. "The Royal Show at Reading". Commercial Motor. 6 July 1926. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
13. Catchpole, Cyril. "film of 1934 Royal Agricultural Show". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 17 January 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
14. Sharman, Frank. "Exhibitions Great and Small". Wolverhampton History and Heritage Website. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
15. Catlow, Claire (20 November 2017). "In pictures: The Queen in Nottingham in the 1940s and 50s". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
16. "The Big Question: What is the Royal Show, and why is it coming to an end after 170 years?". The Independent. London. Retrieved 16 October 2012. ^{[dead link]}
17. Royal Show 2007 - event report - 29/06/2007 - FarmersWeekly
18. Wet weather forces Royal Show to abandon final day - 03/07/2007 - FarmersWeekly
19. End of an era for Royal Show

External links

• Official website
• Royal Show 2007 Event Report