| Where: | Bishops Castle, Shropshire- procession from High Street to Church of St John the Baptist |
| When: | Sunday in mid June |
| Time: | 10 am Procession, 11am Service |
Midsummer is the patronal feast of St John the Baptist on June 24th and many churches with this dedication celebrate in mid June, near the ancient festival of the Summer Solstice. At Bishops Castle there is a traditional village fete on the Saturday from 2pm-4pm while on the Sunday morning a rushcart procession forms on the High Street with morris dancers, making its way downhill to the Church for the special service at 11 am. The cart is squeezed into the church during the service and dancing takes place in the aisles; there’s plenty of singing, mostly to well-known tunes, and children place posies around the cart. Following the service, a barbecue and morris dancing from the Shropshire Bedlams and Martha Rhoden’s Tuppeny Dish take place in the churchyard. Rushcarts and rushbearing are usually typical of North Western England so this one is unusual its setting; the High Street is prettily bedecked with bunting and makes a beautiful backdrop.
Helpful Hints
In 2024 it was on Sunday 23rd June- 2025 date is yet to be confirmed but likely to be Sunday 25th.
Plenty of free parking is well sign-posted around town.
Click here for the Shropshire Bedlams and Martha Rhoden’s Tuppeny Dish: https://www.facebook.com/groups/7968307190
For the church & event website click here : http://ridgewaychurch.wordpress.com/
and here: https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10417/service-and-events/events-all/
Great to see the tradition is still going strong..I was part of getting this started way back in 1977. The Rushcart theme is unusual to find in this part of England but we felt it fitted with the strong Morris presence in the area and the St John Baptist church people who wanted a celebration of Midsummer.I built the Rushcarts and danced with the The Shropshire Bedlams Morris ….
good times
brian jones strawboss.ca
It’s a lovely tradition and surprisingly little known – a great day out!Thanks for being one of the founders of the revival- there’s great deal of work goes on behind the scenes, I realise, but being part of something that grows and carries on for a long time must be very satisfying 🙂
Best wishes
Averil