Sadly very few details from the early years of the Frome Agricultural & Cheese Show survive, but, according to local historian Michael MacGarvie, an agricultural society existed in 1835. We do know that on 21 January 1861, H Crees placed an advert in the Somerset & Wiltshire Journal calling for a meeting. A society was subsequently formed and a show was held that autumn. Despite drenching storms, a vast crowd of 2,000-3,000 people attended. After the fair, 230 sat down to dinner at 4.30pm in the Mechanics’ Hall. From these happy beginnings, and doubtless building on the success of the weekly Wednesday market, Frome Show quickly became popular and almost as swiftly diversified to include elements other than Cheddar cheese and dairy products, although these have always been at the heart of the show. 

The show’s early success was probably due in no small part to the rise in the number of dairy cows, coupled with the need to sell a large amount of cheese, the encouragement by the landlords (such as Lord Bath) because high cheese prices meant higher rents, plus, of course, the coming of the railways in the 1850s. These new lines of communication opened up opportunities to sell fresh milk in London, while the excess milk produced in the summer months was converted and made into farmhouse Cheddar cheese. Small farmers were able to deal with the hand milking of a few cows and the selling of liquid milk produced a cash income for them. The butter and cream also provided by-products for pigs and poultry. 

The cheesemaker was usually the lady of the household, and her skills and knowledge were important to the farmer. Most of these farmers were tenants of local landlords, including the Marquis of Bath, Duke of Somerset, Earl of Cork and Orrery, Earl of Oxford at Mells, Lord Hilton of Ammerdown and the Duckworths (who had recently acquired Orchardleigh), all of whom realised the importance of the revenue from farm produce. Of course they had considerable clout and were very happy to be involved in helping to organise the Frome Show. They anticipated the prestige (and higher prices) that came with winning a first prize.

One document that does remain tells us about the prizes and awards on offer at the 1864 show. This now hangs in the Show Office, but it was originally displayed in the window of local auctioneer Coles & Bastin. C Harding, the show secretary back then, was an auctioneer with them. The show was then called the ‘Annual Exhibition of Frome Agricultural Society’. It illustrates just how quickly it had diversified to include livestock, cows, bulls, sheep, horse and pigs, as well as roots and poultry. There were even awards to servants for various farm duties.

A photograph of the Old Market Place Show, taken from the new Frome to Radstock railway line, shows the way the show had expanded to include Singers Field. It clearly shows West End. In relatively recent times this was the site of the Singer factory, but today there are houses on the site. Following on from the success of the Frome Show and Livestock Market, the Frome Market Company was formed. It decided to build a market hall in 1875, and this is now the Cheese and Grain building, home to a fantastic array of events today. 

Returning to the late 1800s, business was booming in Frome, but then importation from the colonies began and a recession started. Lives and finances were further destroyed by the onset of World War 1 in 1914. Things started well, too, in the Market Hall. The idea of farmers bringing their cheese in at ground floor level using wagons and after the produce had been sold using the lift to move the cheeses up to the railway at the rear of the building worked well. This lasted until the building was commandeered for munitions during World War I. It would never be returned to its original use.