| Where: | Formerly Farndon, Cheshire from the centre of the village to St Chad's Church |
| When: | Formerly Second Saturday in July |
| Time: | Formerly 2 pm |
Every July the villagers at Farndon paraded to St Chad’s Church for their Rush Bearing Celebrations. Before churches had paved floors, rushes were strewn to keep the earth floors sweet and it was common to make a special occasion from their annual renewal. Few such customs survive and the ones which do are mainly in North-West England. At Farndon the special service in the church was preceded by a procession involving the local schoolchildren, their Rushbearer and Rose Queen and the Farndon and District Brass Band, and flowers and rushes were used to decorate the church and graveyard.
Helpful Hints
There was a fete with lots of stalls and entertainments, and refreshments were availalable in the Memorial Hall nearby.
Church-crawlers may be interested to know that St Chad’s was badly damaged while used as a garrison during the Civil wars, and that John Speed the famous cartographer donated plate to St Chad’s as his place of baptism.
The event has sadly lapsed due to lack of volunteers and hasn’t been held since lockdown. If anyone hears of a revival do please let me know!
Click here for the school website: http://www.farndon.cheshire.sch.uk
the band : http://www.farndonband.org.uk/Events
and church:https://www.facebook.com/St-Chads-Church-Farndon-2340732789529615
and http://www.stchadschurchfarndon.org.uk
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