THE Charter Fair’s Sunday start date in the city is “denuding our Christian values”, according to a retired aircraft engineer who says it is actually breaking the original terms of the charter.

David Brown, who has been a steward at Salisbury Cathedral since 1979, has written to the Bishop of Salisbury saying it is necessary to make a stand against the fair starting on a Sunday.

He says the start on a Sunday “flouts the charters that have existed for centuries” and is a “further loss of Christian values in our country” with the only winners being Salisbury City Council (SCC) which can receive another day’s rent and the showmen who increase their takings.

He said: “The fair was initially two days, then becoming three days commencing on the Monday.

“It has been three days for some centuries. The fair was never allowed to set up on the Market Place until after midnight on the Sunday.”

In 1227 King Henry III granted a charter to the Bishop of Salisbury to hold a fair on the third Monday in October, and the fair is still held every year.

In 2014, the fair started on Sunday for the first time as a celebration of 125 years of the Showmen’s Guild Western Section.

But last year it also opened on a Sunday, with the same due to happen this year.

In his letter to the bishop, Mr Brown said: “I believe it is necessary to make a stand otherwise this will be another example of the vanishing Sunday.

“Unless the Church takes the lead, I doubt whether anything will change and allowing the fair on Sunday will set a precedent for years to come.”

Mr Brown has suggested that instead of starting on a Sunday, the fair ends on a Thursday to ensure a four-day event. 

SCC is yet to comment.