The Gazetteer is a catalogue of the markets and fairs in England and Wales between c.900 and 1516. The English section is arranged by county (as these were arranged on the eve of the 1974 county boundary changes) and then by place in alphabetical order. The Gazetteer aims to provide systematic information regarding the establishment and operation of these markets and fairs. Every reference to a market (mercatum, forum) or fair (feria, nundinae) in the source material has been recorded. This includes both prescriptive markets and fairs (generally the oldest, which were held by established custom) and granted markets and fairs, which were usually held by virtue of a royal charter.