| Where: | Sellack at St Tysilio's Church, Hentland at St Dubricious' Church & Kings Caple at St John the Baptist's Church, Peterchurch at St Peter's Church with walk starting at St Peter's Well |
| When: | Palm Sunday |
| Time: | Hentland 3pm - other churches at morning service: joint service starting at 10.30 at Kings Caple with 11.15 service at Sellack , Peterchurch 10.30 am |
The distribution of Pax Cakes survives in three churches in Herefordshire and has been started at another; it is a charity dole and the round shortbread-like biscuits are given out by the vicar after the Sunday service. They are stamped with the image of a lamb and a blessing of “Peace and Good Neighbourhood” is spoken with each gift (hence the name of Pax Cakes as “pax” is the Latin for “peace”). The dole is believed to go back to a fifteenth century bequest. The churches of Sellack and Kings Caple are very close together and currently share their services in the morning, connected by a walk which begins with the distribution of Palms, while Hentland usually takes place during the afternoon. The custom has also been recently established at Peterchurch, and sherry is served with the Pax cakes at the morning service.
Helpful Hints
In 2027 Palm Sunday will be on Sunday 21st March.
Palm Sunday moves in date from year to year as it is linked to the moveable feast of Easter. The times of the services also vary from year to year so I’d advise checking direct if planning to attend. I’ve found the Sellack/Kings Caple service is the easiest to find details for well in advance of the due date.
The walk between the churches at Sellack and Kings Caple may be muddy, and it involves crossing a very wobbly footbridge! After crossing the Wye, a donkey joins the procession and in all it takes just over half an hour depending on how quickly the donkey sets the pace. Instead of tea and coffee, cider and sherry are served along with the Pax Cakes.
Click here for Hentland’s parish website: https://archenfieldbenefice.org.uk/churches/hentland__st_dubricius and contacts https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10546/ and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hentlandchurch1
here for Sellack: https://stowcaplechurches.co.uk/services/
here for Kings Caple contacts: https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10582/
and here for Peterchurch: https://www.abbeydoredeanery.org
Trying to find out as much as poss about the Pax Cake custom, which we hope to resurrect locally this year
Hi Joyce!
Thanks for getting in touch. If you follow the link to the St Weonards’s parish website ( http://www.stw.org.uk/index.html )there’s a contacts page on there with email and phone numbers of the clergy at Hentland which is one of the parishes that has carried on the Pax Cakes tradition for many years. Hopefully they’ll be able to give you all the inside information on how it’s done. When you’ve planned it, let me know and I can add your event details to Calendar Customs. Good luck!
Averil
Walking from St. Peter’s Well this year, with a horse to the church at Peterchurch.Shall collect palms on the way for an 11.00 o’clock service, followed by sherry and pax cakes. Organised by Vicar Simon. Praying for good weather!
That’s welcome news Joyce- funnily enough I was just wondering how your revival of the custom might be faring so I’m really pleased it’s going ahead this year. I’ve added the details into the post and given it a tweak, and put on the link to the church website. Hope it warms up for you- it snowed here in Northumberland today!
Averil