The Monmouthshire Show is the largest one-day

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhibit ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, taking place annually in

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. ...

on the first Saturday in July.

Origin

The origin of the show dates back to the 1790s when Monmouth's agricultural society organised ploughing matches. However it was not until 1857 that it was proposed that a cattle show should be created. On 30 May 1857, the eighth Duke of Beaufort gave ten pounds and

John Rolls John Rolls (27 February 1735 – 8 September 1801) was a native of Bermondsey, Southwark, London, Surrey, England. A member of the Rolls family of The Grange in Bermondsey and The Hendre, Monmouthshire, he married heiress Sarah Coysh. That m ...

placed twenty pounds into a fund to start the Monmouth Cattle Show. The show was first staged in the October of the same year. Rolls was President of the show for his lifetime and he was succeeded by his son John Allan Rolls in 1870.

Venues

In 1876 the show was held in the town's newly established cattle market in Chippenham Fields. The show was then held annually (firstly in October, but then eventually moved to August – taking up its now traditional date of the last Thursday in August) up until the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The show was restarted in 1919 when it was renamed the Monmouthshire County Show. The show was not held during the period of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, but from 1946 until 2006 it was held each year on the grounds of Vauxhall Fields. Nor was it held in 1956 or 2001 due to outbreaks of

foot and mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, follow ...

, nor 2020 on grounds of

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. 2007 marked the 150th anniversary of the Monmouthshire Show Society. That same year the show moved to a new site on the Redbrook Road in Monmouth.

Date

When the show started it was originally held in October but it was brought forward to September to improve the likelihood of good weather. The date has now moved to the first Saturday in July since 2017.

References

{{coord missing, Gwent Agricultural shows in Wales Annual fairs Tourist attractions in Monmouthshire Fairs in Wales August events Monmouth, Wales Festivals established in 1857 1857 establishments in Wales Summer events in Wales