St Faith's Hitchin: Beating the Bounds 2011

St Faith's Church, Walsworth, Hitchin
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Beating the Bounds of the Hitchin Parish, May 2011

Sunday, 29th May saw the annual ‘Beating the Bounds’ walk around the parish boundary. Some 31 walkers set off from St Faith's Church and although many of the walkers completed the whole of the 12 miles, some extra people joined in at various points to walk a part of it and thereby join in.

Beating the Bounds is a custom that dates from the 5th century, when parishioners asked for God's blessing to protect their crops but it was also in part an educational process. The processions customarily stopped at boundary marks and other significant landmarks of the parish, such as an ancient tree, or a rock, or perhaps a pond. After the priest had read the Gospel and perhaps placed a cross on the landmark, tradition required the boys of the parish to be beaten with willow wands or subjected to some other indignity to help them to remember the parish borders. Now I don’t know if this is actually true and obviously nowadays is completely unacceptable (unless you want to enjoy the custody of her majesties pleasure) but never the less it had a certain appeal as my son Philip sings in the choir at St Faiths, however at 19 and 6’ 5” tall, renewing this custom would not have been without considerable risk so I erred on the side of discretion being the better part of valour.

During the Reformation walking the parish boundary became a more important part of the ceremony as it provided the community with a mental map which could be drawn on in disputes over boundaries. It was also useful for teaching people, particularly the young the parochial boundaries. This was vital knowledge in days when the parish was responsible for maintaining the roads within its boundaries, for keeping the peace and relieving the poor.

As members of parishes beat the bounds, they would often encounter obstructions and violations of boundaries. The annual beating of the bounds provided an opportunity to resolve boundary issues and led to the tradition of seeking reconciliation in personal relationships during Rogationtide. The sharing of specially brewed ale, called Ganging Beer, and a mysterious pastry, called Rammalation Biscuits, at the end of the walk was a good way of sealing the reconciliation.

We were able to get our modern day Ganging Beer by stopping at two pubs on the way and refresh ourselves for the next part of the walk. Instead of Rammalation biscuits we were treated to a splendid high tea at St Faith's church after the walk – in my view a much better idea.

Of course thanks are due to many people who helped in a variety of ways to enable the walk to take place but considerable mention must go to Mike Woodward and Jon Corkindale, who played significant parts in organising this parish event. There was also a by-product that funds were raised for the benefit of the parish.

After the event there was a curry for all of those who had helped in the running of the event and as can be seen from the photograph a jolly good time was had by all.

The weather was very favourable for walking and although the numbers of walkers were down from last year there was a very good sense of fellowship and a lot of fun was had by all. If this report has stimulated you why not make a date of next years walk Sunday 13th May 2012

Tim Mitchell

>> For details of the Beating the Bounds tradition and historic sites on route, see A history of the Hitchin Parish boundary compiled by local archivist, Aidan Lawes.

We hope to see you next year on 13th May 2012