 A place where a river could be forded became a meeting place and a centre for trade and the granting of a charter for a fair and weekly market in the reign of Henry III (1216–1272) suggests that Lydford was already a place of some importance by that time.Fair Place, West Lydford, is where the fair was held.The Manor of West Lydford was bequeathed by the 4th Earl of Derby in his will of 1593 to his second son the Hon William Stanley of Lathom, Lancashire.