| Where: | Ebernoe, Sussex at the Cricket Field |
| When: | 25th July |
| Time: | From 11am with lunchtime procession around 2pm and presentation around 6pm. |
The Horn Fair at Ebernoe takes its name from the horns taken off the ram which is roasted for the village feast every St James’ Day (25th July). A cricket match is played all day while the ram roasts on a spit at the end of the cricket field; the cricketers share the roast during their lunch break, after a procession of players and ram over the crease. The horns, which now take the form of a trophy rather than the actual horns from the roast, are presented after the days cricket match to the player who scores most highly in the game, and more meat cooks while the second half is played. A special Horn Fair Song is sung following the presentation, and roast mutton is shared out for all. A funfair and refreshments are available all day, and entertainments and children’s sports follow the match. As you can see from the photographs, a road runs through the cricket field adding an extra frisson for passing motorists…
Helpful Hints
In earlier times, when 25th fell upon a Sunday the match used to be held on the Saturday instead but this is no longer the case and it’s always on 25th whatever day of the week it falls upon (thanks to Andrew Clark for this info!).
Times vary according to the state of play during the game, so are approximate. Experienced visitors take along chairs!
It’s organised by the cricket club- click here for their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ebernoecricketclub/
A brilliant day out. The crickets starts around noon (and all the villagers skive off work!) so unless you are a serious fan of cricket, show up around 4pm for the end of the cricket, the award ceremony (high bowler gets a plaque with goat horns) and the singing of the Horn Song (which can be downloaded from the internet). Two sheep donated by the Petworth estate are roasted, there is a dog display team, lots of competitions for kids, a fun fair run by the same family for years, and a raffle. Last year that included a hot air balloon ride, and we watched the winners sail off into the sunset.
Well worth skipping a day of work!
Hi Anita – thanks for the first hand account! It’s good to have an insiders view as it’s one of the events still on my “to-do” list,
Kind Regards,
Averil
PS I would have replied sooner but have been preocuppied sorting the fall-out from my car having a collision with a seven and a half ton truck (predictably the truck came off best…)
Ebernoe is a lovely place to visit. According to the programme, everything starts with preparing a sheep roast at 8.30 am. When the cricket match has an interval for lunch, there is a procession of this sheep roast to the Pavilion, for the cricketers. (There is another roast for the rest of us, which we began eating at about 8pm.) After the match, the batsman on the winning side who has scored the highest number of runs is presented with a shield with sheep horns mounted on it. There’s a really friendly atmosphere.
keters.
I’ve played Sunday friendlies here for years, but 2018 was the first time that I’d attended the Horn Fair. WHAT A SPECTACLE! Fantastically well supported and made to feel extremely welcome by the locals. Congratulations to the organising committee on a truly remarkable day. I look forward to attending again in the future!
It was a Baker family tradition to meet up at the fair and maybe some still do. The Bakers were associated with the area in the 19th century and some still live nearby. Many went to the school, next to the church and are buried in the church graveyard, the school is now a private residence.
Good evening the day is wrong. The horn fair is on the 25th regardless now. It use to move for a Sunday but changed some 20ish years ago along with Sunday trading laws. So now regardless of the day of the week it is always on the 25th
Many thanks for that information- I shall adjust the page accordingly. It hasn’t previously cropped up since I started the website so that’s very helpful!
Best wishes,
Averil