Tap-up Sunday

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

An old local name for the Sunday preceding October 2nd, when a fair was held on St. Catherine's Hill, near Guild- ford. So called because any person, with or without a licence, might open a "tap," or sell beer on the hill for that one day.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “Tap-up Sunday” mean?

An old local name for the Sunday preceding October 2nd, when a fair was held on St. Catherine's Hill, near Guild- ford. So called because any person, with or without a licence, might open a "tap," or sell beer on the hill for that one day.

Is “Tap-up Sunday” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.