Since 1790 there has been a Sheep Fair at Findon in September.  Mr. Norman Groves, born 1912, told me that in his youth there would be 20,000 to 30,000 sheep sold on Nepcote Green where the sheep were auctioned by Messrs Burt & Sons of Steyning. 

The sheep would have been driven for many miles to the fair and there was a strict rule that none were allowed on the Green until the day that the selling would take place. 

The sheep would be rested up on the Downs above Findon and brought down through the village during the night, to arrive as soon after midnight as possible when they would be permitted to come on to the Green where pens had been put up to hold them. 

Every householder made sure that his garden gate was securely fastened before he went to bed on the night that the sheep pass through the village.

On the day of the fair, as well as the auctioning of the sheep, there was great fun to be had: roundabouts, swings, music sideshows and many other forms of entertainment made this a great event.  This was particularly true for the children who were given a day's holiday from school.  Next day the fairground equipment had to be packed and moved by noon.

There was, it seems, another event, the Spring or Lamb Fair, but I was assured that it was nothing compared to the Great Sheep Fair.

Sometimes a lad might be asked to help with the sheep and would help to herd the flock as far as Amberly Mount, about eight miles away.  He would then walk the same distance back to the village.  The shepherd would give him threepence for his trouble so he did not mind the 16 miles he trudged with that money in his pocket.