Stoke St Gregory History Pages
Village Customs - Updated 11/01/2025
Wassailing - soon to be an annual event in the village, reviving a centuries old tradition Click HERE
Egg Shackling - A major event in the School Calendar and an ancient village tradition. Click HERE
Reeves Feast - An ancient charitable institution unique to Stoke and the surrounding villages. Click HERE
Stoke Club - The Village Friendly Society that lasted well into the 20th Century. Click HERE
Skimmerton Riding in Stoke St Gregory
This form of ‘rough justice’ was common in Victorian England, but it seems that Stoke was host to the ‘Mother of all Skimmertons’. On 24th May 1879, the Bristol Mercury reported the incident. Here are a few excerpts:
“SKIMMERTON RIDING - William Pearce, Edward Pearce, James Dare, Thorn Boobier, John Boobier, William Hembrow, Benjamin Johnson, Samuel Loveridge, Lambert Hearne, William Chedzoy, James Burt, John Brewer, and William Hearne, all from Stoke St Gregory, were charged with rioting and assaulting seven police-constables on the 1st of May.”
The ‘great disturbance’ of the previous evening was brought about by the alleged behavior of the local constable, PC Sparks. “a man who was alleged to have taken undue liberties with a young girl, from the result of which she was enceinte [pregnant], and, as the solicitor for the defence put it, the virtuous indignation of the inhabitants was aroused.”
“seven policemen were despatched to the place, but they were knocked about and severely ill-used by a crowd of 150 - 200 persons, who belaboured them with heavy bludgeons . . . several of them were knocked down senseless, two of whom were severely wounded and had to be removed from the scene in carriages.”
Hogarth's depiction - "Hudibras Encounters the Skimmington"
All the men were committed to trial. The woman concerned was Ellen Kinglake, who died giving birth to the resulting child. Born in 1858, Ellen was the daughter of Samuel and Sarah Kinglake, the family living in Meare Green, somewhere near Squire’s bakery. Samuel had died by then. Sarah and her older daughter Matilda were both noted as washerwomen in the 1871 census.
Origins
Skimmertons, Skimmingtons or Charivari, are recorded from medieaval times, the name possibly deriving from the skimming ladle used to take the cream off the milk in dairy processing, which was also supposed to be the weapon used by a woman to beat a henpecked husband. The justifications varied, a favourite being the villagers' disapproval of a man for weakness in his relationship with his wife, maybe even accepting her extra marital relationships. Communities, however, used "rough music", as it was also called, to express their disapproval of any violation of community norms.
Depiction of a Charivari from the Roman de Fauvel C 1300
The ‘Ride’
The noisy parade passed through the village, and also served as a warning to others to abide by community norms. In its most violent form, a wrongdoer or wrongdoers might be dragged from their home or place of work and paraded by force through the village. In the process they were subject to the derision of the crowd.
Sometimes special rhymes were written for the occasion:
“Has beat his wife!
Has beat his wife!
It is a very great shame and disgrace
To all who live in this place
It is indeed, upon my life!”
Some will remember Thomas Hardy's 1884 novel,‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’. Effigies of Mayor Henchard and Lucetta, a former lover, are paraded through the streets on a donkey by a noisy crowd. Lucetta, now respectably married to Henchard's rival, collapses in humiliation. More recently, there was a depiction of an incident in a Warwickshire community in 1909 (Fig 3, from Illustrated London News, 14 August 1909).
Finally, Midsomer Murder fans might remember the episode where John Nettles has to to come to terms with the principles of Skimmerton. Out on a family trip, the Chief Inspector finds himself investigating a murder, but they were all there to attend the annual Skimmington Fair, a decades-old village féte that pitted the women against the misogynist men.
The Hearing
At the hearing, the Stoke men were accused of “assaulting W. Dicks, R. Raymond, J. Sparks, T. Stuckey. M. Coles, H. Brimble, and W. U., police-constables.” According to the police statements: “the mob began to surge and sway about, and they succeeded in surrounding Constable Sparks . . . Constable Dicks received a wound which felled him to the ground. It was a mercy that some of the constables were not killed. One of the policemen was struck with something which cut through his helmet, and made a wound on his head . . . heard a blow, and on looking round he saw blood streaming from the forehead of Constable Dicks. The lamp he was wearing was smashed in." The magistrates then retired, and after consulting for some minutes returned with their decision that all should be committed for trial.
The Trial
The story was repeated at the jury trial on 9th July, with additional material being discussed about the behaviour of Constable Sparks. He was asked “if he had ever had illict intercourse with a young woman named Ellen Kinglake.” There was no denial, although Ellen’s age was disputed. The Vicar of Stoke, The Rev Gurney, also had a part in the story. After the disturbance of 30th April, he had written to Superintendent Goldsmith asking for men to be sent the next day. “It was also suggested that the men should be sent in plain clothes and should secrete themselves in the vicar’s garden, so that they might see what persons took part in the disturbance.”
The way the police had handled the situation, combined with the behaviour of Constable Sparks, must have influenced the jury: “The jury after retiring to consider their verdict returned into court and in answer to the formal question said they had found all the prisoners Not Guilty on all counts.”
Download the pdf HERE which includes more details of the hearing and trial
Here We Come a'Wassailing
Friday, 10th January, 2025 saw the birth of a new tradition in Stoke, although who knows if it also took place thousands of years ago. The children of Stoke School, having learnt a little of the background, and having made hats of willow and greenery, marched to the Community Orchard banging their pots and pans. They adorned the trees with ribbons and pieces of toast, before singing a Wassail Song to encourage the trees to produce good fruit in the coming year. They also shouted and banged their drums to scare away the evil spirits.
Thanks to Tim, Julie and Bryony for leading the ceremony, but a special thankyou to the children and their families, who will hopefully use the Community Orchard for picnics and then harvest the fruit as it ripens.
Wassailing is a tradition that involves drinking to people's health and singing songs, often during Christmas and New Year celebrations. The word "wassail" comes from the Old English phrase "was hál", which means "good health". It also Appears in the Norse language.
The tradition of wassailing is a way to ensure a good harvest and healthy farm animals.
The earliest wassail drinks were warmed mead with roasted crab apples, which was called "lambswool". The tradition of wassailing crops and animals was common in Medieval Britain.
Wassailers would go from house to house, singing songs and wishing good health.
The leader of the group would raise the wassail bowl and say "Wassail!".
The group would then say "Drink hail!".
The bowl would be passed around the group, with each person taking a drink.
The tradition was especially popular in apple-growing communities in the south-west of England.
Wassail bowls were made from materials like wood, pewter, precious metals, or decorative stone.
The bowls were large and communal, and were used to dip bread and cakes into the wassail.
The tradition of floating bread in the wassail bowl led to the use of "toast" as a drinking salutation.