Southwark Lammas

Where:	Southwark, London at Bread Ahead in Borough Market and Southwark Cathedral
When:	1st August
Time:	11.45 at the Bread Ahead bakery and 12.15 in the Cathedral

Lammas is a celebration of the first fruits of harvest time and the name is believed to be derived from early English for “Loaf Mass”. It’s a Christian festival which is on August 1st, to fit with the beginning of the grain harvest, and typically involves thanksgiving for newly baked bread and the food we eat. At Southwark, the event begins with blessings of the premises, staff and loaves at neighbouring Bread Ahead bakery, just over the road from the Cathedral in Borough Market. A small party of clergy enter the bakery and the staff proudly present a wheat sheaf and a variety of loaves before all process into the Cathedral for a short service in which some of the new bread is used in the Eucharist. The loaves are displayed at the altar during the service, and there’s a definite sense of community with the locals and staff.