The Nottingham Cheese Riot

On October 2, 1766, Nottingham’s famous Goose Fair turned from lively market to full-blown riot, and the cause was cheese. Prices had doubled, merchants were buying up entire wagonloads to haul away, and the townsfolk decided they would not stand for it. What followed was chaos, with stalls overturned, cheeses seized, and wheels rolled through the streets like weapons. The mayor, Robie Swann, tried to stop it and ended up sprawled on the cobblestones after being knocked flat by a rolling cheese.

The humor of the scene hides the desperation that drove it. Soldiers were called in, shots were fired, and a farmer named William Eggleston lost his life. Nottingham’s riot was part of a national wave of food protests, born from hunger and a demand for justice. In this episode we explore how a fairground skirmish over cheese revealed the fierce struggle of ordinary people to survive.