| Where: | London at St Clement Danes Church in the Strand |
| When: | 3rd Thursday in March (or near date- see Helpful Hints) |
| Time: | 1pm |
The well-known nursery rhyme “Oranges and Lemons” mentions several churches in the City of London and one of them, St Clement Danes, holds an annual service commemorate it. In medieval times the churchyard of St Clements reached the bank of the river, and cargoes of fruit were liable to tolls when transported through it, hence the association in the rhyme. Since a special service held in 1919 to mark the re-hanging of the church bells, the church has hosted the unique Oranges and Lemons Service in which children from the local Primary School each receive an orange and a lemon to take home. The service includes performances by each of the classes in school – expect dance, song, poetry readings and more following an opening ceremony featuring the school handbell ringers and a spirited performance of the Oranges and Lemons nursery rhyme actions.At the end of the service (weather permitting), tables are set up outside the church door with the fruit upon them, and the clergy hand out fruit to the children as they leave.
Helpful Hints
In 2024 the service was held on Thursday March 14th- 2025 date is yet to be confirmed but likely to be Thursday 20th (it’s usually a Thursday though in 2023 it moved a couple of days to the Tuesday). Places may be limited as in 2022 when there was no admittance for the general public on the day (all places had to be applied for in advance) so I’d advise contacting either the church or one of the schools in advance if planning to attend.
A carillon plays the Oranges and Lemons tune at St Clements every day at 9 am, noon, 3pm and 6pm, and it also plays during the distribution of fruit on Oranges & Lemons Day.
Visitors are usually welcome to attend (but see note above re 2022) – the nave is full with the children and invited guests so visitors view from the gallery (stairs up are near the main door into the church) where there was plenty of space in 2016. The gallery opens up at around 1pm, and the service itself lasted for just over an hour.
Click here for church contacts: https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/units/st-clement-danes-church/
Click here for the school website: http://st-clementdanes.westminster.sch.uk
You may be interested in this:
Innocent’s Song, a ghost story for ‘Oranges and Lemons’ Day
http://freakyfolktales.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/innocents-song-a-ghost-story-for-oranges-and-lemons-day/
Regards, PJ Hodge
Thanks Paul!
I think anyone who likes The Woman in Black would enjoy the story – good & creepy!
Best Wishes,
Averil
Thanks Averil. Very kind of you to say! Kind regards, Paul
I’ve just received this from the headmistress of the St Clement Danes Church of England Primary School: “The Oranges and Lemons Service will be taking place this coming Thursday, 17th March 2022. However, this service is not open to the public, if you wish to attend you will need to contact the school as we will be full to capacity and parents of the school children will be given priority. Therefore, extra tickets/invitations being available is highly unlikely.”
Thanks for that update-I’ll get the info up on the site ASAP
Averil