| Where: | Carhampton, Somerset at the Community Orchard and (sometimes)The Butchers Arms |
| When: | 17th January (unless it's a Sunday) |
| Time: | 6.30 at Community Orchard, formerly 7.30 pm (ish) at Butchers Arms |
January 17th is “old” Twelfth Night – when the calendar was altered in the Eighteenth Century, some events kept to their original day rather than moving with the new calendar and the Wassailing at Carhampton is one such event. There is a Wassail at the Community Orchard first then (sometimes)another crowd gathers in the orchard next to the pub, around the Old Apple Tree; toast soaked in cider is put in the branches for the robins at both events while cider is poured over its roots, all to encourage the tree to produce a good crop the following harvest. Wassailing carols are sung, shotguns are fired to awaken the tree spirits, a bonfire is lit and a good time is had by all! As a rare survivor (as opposed to a revival or new wassail) this event is often used as a model for others, and has been highly influential in the modern wassailing scene. Hot cider is usually on offer both at the Orchard and at the pub, and sandwiches were given out at the Orchard.
Helpful Hints
When 17th falls on a Sunday the event usually moves to Saturday 16th instead. This won’t happen again for some years. While the Orchard event goes ahead reliably each year, the one at the pub is patchier and doesn’t always happen- and isn’t easy to find out about. In 2025 the pub appeared to be closed but the orchard wassail went ahead as planned.
When the pub Wassail was operating, after the Community Orchard Wassail there was time to get drinks in at the pub before their own event began – bonfire fans might want to make their way quickly into the orchard behind the pub as the fire was lit around 7.30 and left to burn for 20 minutes or so before the wassailing began.
Food and accommodation were available at the Butchers Arms.
Click here for the orchard website : http://carhampton.2day.uk/section/COMMUNITYORCHARD
and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Carhampton-Orchard-1614050748846550/
and here for the pub’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090743673295
I attended in 2024 and unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be any separate event in the pub these days. It was just Wassailing in the community orchard at 18:30. Not the event it once was, no Morris Men or large bonfire. It will be a shame if this one dies out, being effectively the last surviving pre revival event.
Thanks for the info Bruce- I”ll put a note on the page about that. It went ahead in 2023 at the pub as well as the Orchard, but appears to be patchy as I think that was the first time it happened for a few years- and I agree it would be a real pity if this one dies out especially as it was one of a tiny handful of wassails still taking place before the huge modern revival of interest from about 10 years ago. Fingers crossed!
Best wishes,
Averil