English Circus

The popular belief is that the circus originated from Ancient Rome, although several components such as tumbling, juggling and rope dancing can trace their rots back more than two thousand years. The modern circus was actually developed in England by the son of a cabinetmaker and a veneer cutter. This man's name was Philip Astley who was a former Sergeant Major in the Fifteenth Light Dragoon Regiment and an outstanding horse trainer.

After his discharge from the army, he decided to copy and improve the art of trick riding which had been popular during his time in Europe. In 1768, Astley settled in London and opened a riding school where he taught riding in the morning and performed "feats of horsemanship" in the afternoon. The school had a circular arena that he called his circus which would be later known as the ring. The circus ring was devised by early trick riders and helped them to keep their balance when on the back of a galloping horse, also allowed the audience to keep the riders in sight throughout the performance. His original ring was about 62 feet in diameter but this was frowned upon by many performers as they believed it to be too big. Trick riders insisted the ring to be 42 foot and since has become the international standard for all circus rings.

By 1770, Astley had noticed that performing was much more profitable than teaching but after two seasons in London he needed to bring something new to the ring. He added acrobats, rope dancers and jugglers but his achievement was identifying the circus's need for clowns.

Through the middle ages, jesters played an important role in the social culture of Medieval Europe. They could answer back to authority, by making fun of social customs. It was during this period that clowns got there colourful costumes. Also during this period jesters had a fairly standard uniform which was brightly coloured, often green and saffron coats, two coloured hose and a hooded cap which was topped by little bells. However clowns that entertained at court were mainly street performers with a variety of skills, such as magic, juggling, story telling, puppetry, tightrope walking and witty dialogue.