Notes from St. Mary’s
Rushbearing Festival 10-12th July
July marks one of our biggest events at Newchurch St Mary’s. Since the early 1950s we have celebrated Rushbearing. It is an ancient festival dating back to the middle ages. Traditionally, the floors of churches and homes were often made from packed earth. Floors like these would have been cold in winter and not particularly clean. So, rushes were cut and woven into matts for homes and churches. These would have offered some insulation and kept things cleaner, but they needed to be replaced over time. So ahead of the Rushbearing homes and churches were cleaned in preparation for new rushes to be brought in.
Before rushes were taken to people’s homes, they were taken to the church. The rushes would then be blessed and laid on the floor of the church to try and keep church warmer and cleaner while others were taken to people’s homes.
Very few places around the country today still celebrate Rushbearing but here in Newchurch we are glad to maintain this tradition. This year we are hoping to have a bit of a revamp while still seeking to maintain the traditions but with some twists.
We want the whole community to enjoy this festival and celebrate this ancient tradition. And we felt that it shouldn’t just be something that happens on a Saturday afternoon for an hour or so. We think it should be a festival.
I’ve commented before on how churches used to have a central place in the life of communities, not only for religious services but for celebrations and festivals. In the Middle Ages churches used to literally license parties. So, I hope you don’t mind, but at St Mary’s Newchurch we thought we would license a party for Rushbearing and invite you to join us. We have lots planned and we are excited to see you.
The posters are out and our Facebook page is carrying details, but for ease here is the programme:
Friday
3:30 – Make your Rushbearing Garlands – essential headwear for the weekend.
Pop-up-Bar open from 3:30pm. Pulled Pork Sandwiches from 6pm
Saturday
3:30 – Rushbearing Parade – Parading through our village to crown our Rushbearing King and Queen (don’t forget your garland)
4:15 – Rushbearing Sing-a-long. Pick your school assembly bangers and sing your heart out. The children from St Mary’s School will be challenging you to join in with the bangers of their day and see who sings best!
5:00 – Rushbearing dance-a-long. Rushbearing is incomplete without folk dancing. We will be taught how to bust some folk moves!
6:00 – Bar-b-Que and more dancing (Pop-up-Bar) available from 5pm
Sunday
10:30 – Rushbearing Service. To remind ourselves of what we have been doing it all for
12pm – ‘Bring your own’ and share village picnic
Looking forward to seeing you!