The Worsley Pageant

Other names

  • The Worsley Great Pageant

Pageant type

Notes

Worsley is variously described as a town and a village. It has a historically important pre-industrial centre, which has been designated a conservation area since the 1960s, and this part of the settlement is generally referred to as Worsley village. In administrative terms, the whole settlement is now part of Salford city. At the time of the pageant, Worsley was considered a town.

Jump to Summary

Performances

Place: Worsley Hall (Worsley) (Worsley, Lancashire, England)

Year: 1914

Indoors/outdoors: Outdoors

Number of performances: 2

Notes

17–20 June 1914

  • Worsley New Hall was built for the 1st Earl of Ellesmere between 1840 and 1845; it succeeded the eighteenth-century manor house. The New Hall is a Gothic-style mansion with extensive formal landscaped gardens.
  • The pageant was held on the afternoon of Wednesday 17 June at 2.30 pm; and again on Saturday 20 June.1 A full dress-rehearsal of the pageant was staged on Saturday 13 June in the afternoon.2 Schoolchildren under 12 years of age, accompanied by teachers, were admitted to the rehearsal at a cost of 6d. per ticket; the performance began at 2.30pm and concluded around 6pm. Some of the children were from schools in Bolton.3

Name of pageant master and other named staff

  • Pageant Master: De Ferrars, D'Arcy
  • Director: Rev. C.B. Hulton
  • Choirmaster: Mr R. Froude Coules, FRCO
  • Stage Manager: Mr Herbert Maude
  • Master of the Horse: Mr E. Winkup

Names of executive committee or equivalent

Executive Committee:

  • Chairman: Mr Henry Yates
  • Vice-Chairman: Mr Jessop Hulton
  • Hon. Treasurer: Mr E. Noden
  • Hon. Secretary: Mr Stanley Halsall

Grounds Committee:

  • Chairman: Capt. Hart Davis

Costumes and Properties:

  • Master of Costumes: Mr J.G. Birkby, MA
  • Others in Charge of Costumes and Properties: Mrs Cherry; Mrs Burgess; Mrs Edwardes; Mrs Grundy; Mrs Holme; Mrs C.B. Hulton; Mrs Jessop Hulton; the Misses Richardson; Messrs F. and E. Derbyshire.

Notes

The pageant was the idea of its titular director, Rev. C.B. Hulton.

The chairman of the Grounds Committee was the Earl of Ellesmere's land agent, Captain Hart Davis, who was also responsible for writing A Short History of Worsley (see primary published materials).

Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)

  • Holme, Strachan

Notes

Mr Strachan Holme was librarian to the Earl of Ellesmere and wrote the script of the pageant.5

Names of composers

  • De Ferrars, D'Arcy
  • Elgar, Edward

The pageant master, D'Arcy de Ferrars, was also responsible for composing a number of the choral pieces.6

Numbers of performers

1000

News coverage states that the pageant had 1000 performers, of which children made up a large proportion. Many horses appeared in the pageant.

Financial information

Expenditure: approximately £500

Object of any funds raised

Church building fund.9

Notes

The pageant was held to raise funds to aid the building of a new church at Winton, on the outskirts of Worsley. The sum raised by the pageant has not been recovered. However, most of the work was done voluntarily and expenditure was said to have been only around £500.10 Given attendance at the pageant, even if most of the spectators only bought the cheapest 1s. tickets, the income is likely to have been considerable. The church was successfully built, which also indicates that a profit was made.

Linked occasion

Anniversary of the opening of the Bridgewater canal on 17 June 1761.

Audience information

  • Grandstand: No
  • Grandstand capacity: n/a
  • Total audience: 20000

Notes

Around 3000 schoolchildren attended the full dress rehearsal on Saturday 13 June. Attendance at the Wednesday performance was between 9000 and 10000.12 A figure for the audience size on Saturday has not been recovered, but it is likely to have been at least as large.

Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest

10s. 6d.–1s.

Admission to the grounds cost 1s.; seats in 'Special Enclosures' cost 10s. 6d., 5s., and 1s.13

Associated events

n/a

Pageant outline

Scene I. The Crusaders

The performers for this episode were mostly 'drawn from Upper Worsley and Broad Oak Park'.14 The scene opens with a stirring 'vocal march' sung by the performers and choir; the first line of the lyrics is as follows: 'Shout, shout, the song of joy we sing to Worsley's glory.'15 The drama enacts the return of Sir Elie, Lord of Worsley, from the Crusades; he is mounted on a grey charger and wears a suit of mail. The scene includes knights, country people, monks, Lady Elie and ladies of her household, and a jester. The return of 'mounted knights, squires and men-at-arms' is met with the general rejoicing of villagers. Sir Elie frees some of the Saxon villeins after which there are revels, including the performance of a Morris dance, 'and some exquisite buffoonery brings down the curtain'. This is followed by an 'interlude' in which the founding of Ellenbrook chapel is performed by ten monks led by Elias de Workesley, Abbot of Whalley, who was played by the pageant director, Rev. Alderson.16

Scene II. The Invincible Armada

This scene is set in 1588 and was presented in two parts with a five-minute interval between each. The performers mostly came from the local districts of Winton, Worsley Village and Roe Green. The scene opens once again with an introductory chorus: The Song of Philip of Spain. In the first part, Sir Richard Brereton (who married into the Egerton family of Worsley) musters local troops for the defence of England while it is under threat from the Spanish Armada. Depicted in the second part, is the return of the Worsley muster; a wounded seaman tells the 'thrilling story' of the 'mighty seafight'. There is rejoicing at the victory and a Morris dancing is again performed.17

Scene III. The Bridgewater Canal

Players from the district of Boothstown performed this scene in two acts. The episode features 'Scrope', the first Duke of Bridgewater, his in-laws the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, Francis Egerton, Duke of Bridgewater, the engineer, James Brindley and Lord Strange. In the first act, the construction of a waterway to carry coal from Worsley is proposed by the Duke of Bridgewater many years ahead of its eventual construction. The Duke's grandson, Francis Egerton, carries the scheme through in the second act, and the opening of the resulting canal in 1761 is celebrated. During the celebrations, milkmaids appear in colourful costume and there is clog dancing, stilt-walking, wrestling and a display of pigeon flying 'of marked Lancashire character'.

Pageant Procession

At the close of the third scene, all the performers in the pageant process round the grounds. The procession is led by a knight on horseback (played by the chief marshal of the pageant) from the arena along the main drive of the park and then along the canal side before returning along this route to the arena. The pageant choir accompany the procession as do a band, and there is singing of the vocal march as the parade moves along. The procession now includes many additional characters and banners, including: ancient Britons; Druids; a Roman centurion and Roman ladies with the 'banner of Mercia' carried after them; a Dane carrying the 'Danish raven'; St Columba and monks; Norman knights; knights and hospitallers of the Order of St John; Cardinal Langley and William Booth, Archbishop of York; Friar Tuck; gipsies; witches; Father Barlow, 'the ill-fated priest of Wardley Hall’; coal carriers (illustrating how coal was carried by horseback before the opening of the canal); and King Christian of Denmark (who visited in 1768). In addition, a drawing of Fulton's first steam boat and a model of Naysmyth's steam hammer are carried by workmen.

At the canal side, the Duke of Bridgewater and his party exchange congratulations with engineers and workmen. The duke and his entourage then embark on a barge.

Key historical figures mentioned

  • Egerton, John, first earl of Bridgewater (1579–1649) politician and lawyer
  • Brindley, James (1716–1772) civil engineer
  • Egerton, Francis, third duke of Bridgewater (1736–1803) canal promoter and colliery owner Francis Egerton, Duke of Bridgewater
  • Columba [St Columba, Colum Cille] (c.521–597) monastic founder
  • Booth [Bothe], William (d. 1464) archbishop of York
  • Tuck, Friar (fl. 15th cent.) legendary outlaw
  • Barlow, Edward [St Edward Barlow; name in religion Ambrose] (bap. 1585, d. 1641) Benedictine monk

Musical production

The musical director was Mr R. Froude Coules, FRCO. Music was provided by the Barton Hall Band, which accompanied all choral items in the pageant, and by the Crossfield Band, which accompanied the procession in the finale. There was a 100-voice choir. There were a number of songs as follows:
  • D'Arcy de Ferrars. Entry and Exit March, libretto by Augustin Dawtrey (sung by the whole ensemble at the start and finale of the pageant).
  • D'Arcy de Ferrars. ‘The Song of Elie’, libretto by Mr Stachan Holme (Scene I, The Crusaders, sung by the Minstrel).
  • Plain song chant, ‘Brothers Wander Through the Woodland’ (Scene I, the Crusaders).
  • D'Arcy de Ferrars. ‘The Song of Philip of Spain’, libretto by Mr Stachan Holme (Scene II, The Armada). 
  • Traditional Song, ‘You Gentlemen of England’ (Scene II, The Armada).
  • Song, ‘A Safe Stronghold’, sung to the tune 'Ein Feste Burg' (Scene II, The Armada).
  • Sterndale Bennet. ‘With a Laugh as We Go Round’, chorus from The May Queen (included a tenor solo; Scene II, The Armada).
  • D'Arcy de Ferrars. Song, ‘By the Shovel with a Will’ (Scene III, The Bridgewater Canal).
  • D'Arcy de Ferrars. Song, ‘Our Duke Has Dug a Waterway’ (Scene III, The Bridgewater Canal).
  • Elgar. ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ (sung at the close of the pageant).

Newspaper coverage of pageant

Eccles and Patricroft Journal
The Huddersfield Examiner
The Manchester Courier
The [Manchester] Guardian
The Manchester Evening News
The Nantwich Guardian
Sheffield Independent

Book of words

n/a

A book of words was not produced.

Other primary published materials

  • Coulthurst, Samuel L. Handbook and Souvenir of the Historical Pageant of Worsley: Held in the Grounds of Worsley Hall (Nr. Manchester), by Kind Permission of the Rt. Hon. The Earl of Elsemere. 153rd Anniversary of the Opening of the Bridgewater Canal, June 17th and 20th 1914. Worsley, 1914.
  • Hart Davis, Henry Vaughan. A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914. Manchester, 1914. Reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991.
  • Historical Pageant of Worsley Wednesday, June 17th; Saturday, June 20th 1914 at 2.30 p.m.: Vocal Music to be Sung by the Pageant Chorus. Manchester, 1914.

The short history written by Henry Vaughan Hart Davis was originally published as articles in the parish magazine of St Mark's Church, Worsley, before being collected and published as a booklet a few weeks after the pageant took place. The description of the pageant included in this work had been previously published in the Eccles and Patricroft Journal on 19 June 2014; the original author of this is not credited.20 In 1991, Hart-Davis's booklet was produced in a facsimile edition with a new foreword; the facsimile edition is more widely available for consultation in Lancashire archives and libraries than the original text.

References in secondary literature

n/a

Archival holdings connected to pageant

  • Chetham's Library, Manchester: a copy of the pageant souvenir, 10.H.4.15; two copies of the Short History of Worsley, LCH.393 and 10.H.4.12; one copy of the book of vocal music, 10.H.4.17; and a collection of postcards and photographs, 10.H.4.21. The latter are also available to view online at the Flickr website in the collection presented by Chetham's Library.21
  • The Lancashire Archives: one copy of the facsimile edition of A Short History of Worsley. LE02.
  • The Harris Library, Preston: two copies of Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914). These are both the facsimile editions published in 1991. LE02.

Sources used in preparation of pageant

n/a

Research for the pageant was carried out by Strachan Hall, the Earl of Ellesmere's archivist.22 In a new foreword written by Constance Mullineux, included with the 1991 imprint of Henry Vaughan Hart Davis' s Short History of Worsley, it is claimed that Hart Davis also used Strachan Hall's original research for his local history articles that were later reprinted as this booklet.23

Summary

This pageant was announced as the first event of its kind to be held in east Lancashire.24 It was a fundraiser and the idea of a local clergyman who wanted to raise some money for a church extension in nearby Winton.25 The Rev. C.B. Hulton was inspired to suggest a pageant to the town by a series of local history articles written by a parishioner, Henry Vaughan Hart Davis. It is clear that many Worsley people took the suggestion to heart, and a monumental amount of work went into producing a memorable event. Though the pageant had only three episodes, it had colour and spectacle on its side, as well as the enthusiasm of 1000 performers. It also had an experienced professional pageant master at the helm in D'Arcy de Ferrars—surely a piece of luck for a small town pageant. This theatrical producer had been in charge of the massive Liverpool pageant seven years earlier. At Worsley, de Ferrars not only took charge of the overall management of the pageant, but he also composed much of the music. Aside from de Ferrars, however, the pageant was a very local affair and almost completely organised and staged through voluntary contributions of time and expertise, not to mention a very great deal of fabric! Nearly all reports of the event mention the opulent costumes worn and the way these increased the colour and drama of the performance; performers paid for their own outfits. The vast majority of the costumes were the work of women volunteers who often met in sewing parties, and the garments produced were a powerful testament to their skill.26 It was further claimed that many of the amateur actors 'of all ranks' played their own ancestors; for numerous individuals were 'lineal descendants and members of families connected almost since Doomsday Book with the Manor of Worsley'.27

Moreover, the pageant was held in the grounds of the ancestral home of the Bridgewater family, a locally and historically significant place. The Bridgewaters had been instrumental in raising the profile of Worsley from a small village settlement to an important industrial hub, and the manor built at Worsley in the nineteenth century was the fruit of this family's enterprise. Principally responsible for this fortune had been the third and last earl of Bridgewater who funded the construction of what is usually referred to as Britain's first canal. The famous Bridgewater Canal transformed the fortunes of this part of Lancashire and was the start of a network of waterways in the North of England.28 The tale of the fabulously wealthy third earl's enterprise was much romanticised in local lore, as many newspaper articles acknowledged. For example:

At the early age of 23 he was disappointed in love, foreswore the society of women and plunged into business as his life's work... he died unmarried and a millionaire... He was a stern but just and good master, and looked well after the housing of his miners, establishing shops and markets for them, and taking care that they contributed to a sick fund. He was careless in his dress, which is described as something of the cut of Dr Johnson's. Within doors he was a great smoker, and out of doors as great a sniff-taker. He talked little on any subject but canals...Yet he was a generous giver in public causes. Backward boys may take heart from the fact that as a boy he was sickly and apparently of such feeble intellect that his exclusion from the succession to the dukedom was contemplated.29

If the full dress rehearsal performed in front of 3000 schoolchildren is discounted, there were only two performances of the pageant. Unfortunately, at the last minute, the Earl of Ellesmere (a descendant of the third Duke of Bridgewater and then incumbent of Worsley Hall), who was to be guest of honour, was unable to attend because of ill health. And, on the opening day, 'distant rumbles of thunder' threatened to bring rain from across the border in Cheshire; but these harbingers of doom did not in the end bring disaster. Other local aristocrats, for example, Lady Rochdale, came along on the first day, and though the weather threatened, the rain held off for the entire afternoon. The stage was set on 'gently sloping turf' in front of the grand house, with a meadow before it which ran all the way to the canal itself. The meadow provided 'an unlimited auditorium' that enabled almost everyone attending to obtain a good view and hear most of the spoken dialogue, songs and music.30 A description of the pageant claimed 'there was not a hitch in the stage-managing of the vast company, and the breadth of effect and the artistic ensemble of the piece reflected the highest credit on the organisers'.31 At the second performance three days later, this success was repeated, and this time, the sun even came out.32

The three episodes enacted took Worsley from crusading times through to the start of the industrial age. The first of these showed one of the purported forebears of the Ellesmere family returning to his manor having been on crusade. Though undated, all the trappings of Merrie England were employed in this scene to show the general rejoicing that took place in celebration of the safe return of Sir Elie—and a few local villeins were freed into the bargain! The bucolic theme was continued into the second episode, which featured the defeat of the Armada and its place in local lore when the Worsley muster returned victorious; naturally this was the pretext for more Morris dancing and general frolicking. It is the third episode, however, which is the most novel. Here, there was a sharp departure from normal pageant tradition in this period. Although the dramatisation of incidents from the industrial past would become commoner in the inter-war years, this pre-war pageant elected to tackle the subject with a depiction of the opening of the Bridgewater canal in the eighteenth century. Some concern was shown in the press about this 'declension' from a quaint and picturesque view of the past. However, the article in question claimed that this 'falling away' was rescued by the heroic figure of the third earl and 'his resolve, come Whig, Tory or Junta of Navigators, to construct the first English canal'.33 Contrary to this opinion was that of the Manchester Guardian following the dress rehearsal. The Guardian article welcomed the linking of 'the medieval and Elizabethan ages, which have been the chief mine of pageant masters, with the age of modern industry'. The paper took the view, however, that this new departure was then all spoiled by the romantic slant applied by the pageant. It was stated baldly that the Worsley pageant's venture into more modern times was not nearly drastic enough, showing the times in a way that was 'all too good to be true'.34

The performance was completed with a grand procession in which many more historical eras were depicted. Large banners and trophies were also carried in order to present the whole panoply of times past in England—from the Stone Age to the late eighteenth century. As well as historical characters, the parade included figures from legend. Led by a knight on a grey charger, this historical convoy was described as the 'epitome of England', and the spectacle stretched to almost one mile in length.35 De Ferrars had used this same device of staging relatively few episodes but capping them off with a grand procession to great effect in the Liverpool pageant of 1907; there, this format had successfully plugged the gaps in Liverpool's past and finessed the fact that until recent centuries the great maritime city had played little part in national history. The procession fulfilled the same object in Worsley. Indeed, many theatrical devices used were reminiscent of Liverpool's pageant. For example, coming up the rear of the parade 'was a beautifully draped car, containing classic figures depicting “Worsley Triumphant”’. This spectacular parade of the past processed round the grounds, going from the arena to the banks of the famous canal and then back again.

Moreover, the festivities did not stop with this. The first enactment of the pageant took place on 17 June, the anniversary of the opening of the canal in 1761, with the second following on Saturday 20 June. After each of these, in the evening, selections from the pageant were replayed—this consisted mostly of the folk dances; two bands also played a concert from 8pm until 9.30pm, and there was dancing on the pageant field for spectators.36 The day's entertainments were completed with a replay of the procession, this time moving by torchlight. In this:

The play of fitful lights on the burnished armour of knights and steel helmets of 16th century soldiers, the quaint dresses of Old English peasantry, the Lancashire witches in high pointed hats, and hundreds of other picturesque figures, made a scene which will not readily be forgotten.37

The only incident that appeared to mar this golden celebration was the arrest of a pickpocket who attempted to steal a purse from 'a lady who was watching the Worsley pageant on 17th June'. Another onlooker, in a citizen's arrest, easily apprehended the hapless criminal—a penniless seventy-six-year-old former tailor who was described as 'a feeble old man'. He was handed over to the police and appeared in court.38 The attendance of the pickpocket at the pageant does highlight what must often have been the case, that such large-scale events, held in relatively open spaces, likely played host to many who had not the price of a ticket. Yet despite such potential gate-crashing, it is clear the crowds did turn out, and most would have purchased a ticket. A financial record has not been recovered, but the church that was the object of this fundraising was built soon afterwards, indicating that the event was a financial success.

At any rate, it was a critical success for all who took part. The Worsley pageant was quintessentially a celebration of the north of England, and not only of its more recent industrial ascendancy, though this was given special prominence (albeit through a romantic lens), but also of all that had gone before. Even if much of the narrative included depended on legend and romance, rather than the grime of industry, it is clear that the organisers thought that all of the northern past was important within the English national story, lending weight to the idea that Lancashire towns such as Worsley were about more than coalmines and mills. The traditional pageant format of the time did not particularly lend itself to a re-telling of the histories of settlements that were largely a creation of the industrial age, but performances such as that given at Worsley give an early indication of the adaptability of historical pageantry—a trend that would ensure its persistence for many years to come. The pageant entered the modern world in a further way in that a local cinema filmed its first performance. This took the event to an even wider public and allowed participants to relive their own historical moment by going along to the Deansgate Picture House in Manchester where there were numerous showings in the weeks following the great Worsley pageant.39

Footnotes

  1. ^ 'Worsley Pageant', Manchester Courier, 15 June 1914, 10.
  2. ^ 'Sunshine and Pageantry', Manchester Evening News, 13 June 1914, 5.
  3. ^ Untitled notice, Manchester Courier, 29 May 1914, 10.
  4. ^ Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), 58–59.
  5. ^ Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), 58.
  6. ^ Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), 58.
  7. ^ See, for example, advertisement, Guardian, 12 June 1914, 1.
  8. ^ Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), 58.
  9. ^ Untitled notice, Nantwich Guardian, 5 May 1914, 3.
  10. ^ Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), 59. Advertisement, Guardian, 12 June 1914, 60.
  11. ^ Notice, Manchester Courier, 17 June 1914, 6.
  12. ^ Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), 59.
  13. ^ Advertisement, Guardian, 12 June 1914, 1.
  14. ^ Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), 61.
  15. ^ Unless otherwise stated, all quotations in the synopses are taken from Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991).
  16. ^ 'Worsley Pageant', Manchester Courier, 15 June 1914, 10.
  17. ^ Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), 62. The author Henry Hart Davis played Sir Richard Brereton in this episode.
  18. ^ Advertisement, Guardian, 12 June 1914, 1.
  19. ^ For all information about the music, see Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), 64–65.
  20. ^ 'Foreword', in Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), np.
  21. ^ ‘Worsley Pageant’, Flickr, accessed 23 May 2016, https://www.flickr.com/photos/chethams_library/13577943835.
  22. ^ 'Foreword', in Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), np.
  23. ^ '1991 Foreword', in Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), np.
  24. ^ Untitled notice, Nantwich Guardian, 5 May 1914, 3.
  25. ^ The Reverend Campbell Blethyn Hulton was vicar of St Mark's Church, Worsley. The new church was St Mary Magdalene in Winton near Eccles. The Rev. Hulton is listed under past incumbents at the St Mark's parish website, where he is described as 'a refreshing and robust Christian of broad-minded views with a sense of humour'; see ‘Vicars and Rectors of the Parish’, Parish of St Mark, Worsley, accessed 23 May 2016, http://www.stmarksworsley.org.uk/Pages/Incumbents.aspx.
  26. ^ Hart Davis mentions that as well as sewing parties, a single amateur seamstress undertook 40 costumes; see Henry Vaughan Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, Together with an Account of the Worsley Pageant 17 & 20 June 1914 (Manchester, 1914; reprinted in a facsimile edition by Streetgate Books, 1991), 60. Images of the pageant show how skilled this work was; these can be seen online at ‘Worsley Pageant’, Flickr, accessed 23 May 2016, https://www.flickr.com/photos/chethams_library/13577943835.
  27. ^ Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, 60.
  28. ^ In the eighteenth century, coalmines near Worsley were exploited, but it was the arrival of a canal way that meant that coal could be transported with greater ease, which led to Worsley’s prominence. For the significance of the canal to the region’s industrial development, see W.H. Chaloner, ‘Manchester in the Latter Half of the Eighteenth Century’, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 42 (1959-60), 46ff.
  29. ^ 'Bridgewater Canal: The Romance of its Founder', The Huddersfield Examiner, 17 June 1914, 1.
  30. ^ Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, 60.
  31. ^ Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, 61.
  32. ^ 'Worsley Pageant', Manchester Courier, 15 June 1914, 10.
  33. ^ 'Worsley Pageant', Manchester Courier, 18 June 1914, 10.
  34. ^ 'Pageant on the Border of the City', Guardian, 15 June 1914, 14.
  35. ^ Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, 65.
  36. ^ Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, 67.
  37. ^ Hart Davis, A Short History of Worsley, 67.
  38. ^ 'An Amateur Detective', Manchester Evening News, 25 June 1914, 4.
  39. ^ There are several advertisements for the film; see, for example, Manchester Courier, 20 June 1914, 1.

How to cite this entry

Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘The Worsley Pageant’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1246/