Church Stretton Historical Pageant

Pageant type

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Performances

Place: Grounds of Tiger Hall (Church Stretton) (Church Stretton, Shropshire, England)

Year: 1913

Indoors/outdoors: Outdoors

Number of performances: 3

Notes

8–10 July 1913

[Performances were at 4.15pm].

Name of pageant master and other named staff

Names of executive committee or equivalent

Chairman: Rev. Auden

Notes

Auden was the retired vicar of Condover and a county historian.

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

Names of composers

n/a

Numbers of performers

400

Financial information

The pageant made a profit.

Object of any funds raised

n/a

Linked occasion

n/a

Audience information

  • Grandstand: Yes
  • Grandstand capacity: n/a
  • Total audience: n/a

Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest

10s 6d–1s.

Associated events

n/a

Pageant outline

Prologue

The personification of Longmynd attended by elves and fairies is interrupted by the nymph of Stretton, who apologises for briefly intruding. Longmynd asks her to recall memories of the past. [The synopses of episodes given here is not exhaustive, but is extrapolated from Alan Brisbourne, ‘The Great Stretton Pageant’, Stretton Focus (August 2013), 7.]

Caradoc

Alfred’s the Great’s Daughter

Ethelfleda was a protector of the Marches from Welsh invasions.

The Holy Church Goes Astray

The Days of Chivalry

King John drinks from the Stretton Waters

The Visit of James II

Finale

The spirit of Longmynd and her attendants leave Stretton to dream. All the characters march past.

Key historical figures mentioned

  • Æthelflæd [Ethelfleda] (d. 918) ruler of the Mercians
  • John (1167–1216) king of England, and lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine, and count of Anjou
  • James II and VII (1633–1701) king of England, Scotland, and Ireland

Musical production

n/a

Newspaper coverage of pageant

Shrewsbury Chronicle
Church Stretton Advertiser
Byegones
Manchester Guardian

Book of words

Church Stretton historical pageant, July 8-9-10 1913; book of words. Shrewsbury, 1913.

Other primary published materials

  • Church Stretton Historical Pageant Programme, July 1913. Shrewsbury, 1913.

References in secondary literature

  • Brisbourne, Alan. ‘The Great Stretton Pageant’. Stretton Focus (August 2013). At 7 and Idem. ‘Belgian Refugees in Church Stretton: August 1914’. Stretton Focus (October 2014). At 29.
  • Baggs, A.P., Baugh, G.C., Cox, D.C., McFall, Jessie, and Stamper, P.A. ‘Church Stretton’. In A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 10, Munslow Hundred (Part), the Liberty and Borough of Wenlock. C.R.J. Currie ed. (London, 1998). 72-120. Accessed 20 July 2016. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol10/pp72-120.

Archival holdings connected to pageant

  • Copy of Programme and Book of Words in Shropshire Archives, Reference R 64 v.f and 6004/1886

Sources used in preparation of pageant

n/a

Summary

The idea for a pageant was first mooted at the beginning of 1913. It drew strong support, since it seemed that a pageant might draw people to holiday in the town (at a time when the place was—perhaps rather fancifully—referred to as ‘Little Switzerland’, on account of its appeal to enthusiasts of outdoor recreation).1 The rear of Tiger Hall was chosen as the pageant site with a natural amphitheatre provided by the Longmynd hills. The ruins of the Old Hall buildings were partially rebuilt to afford a backdrop to the performance.2 The local train company offered to provide discounted fares from within a sixty mile radius, an area encompassing much of the West Midlands, Cheshire and Wales. Doubtless helped by such arrangements, the pageant, staged over three evenings, was a success: it made a significant profit. Some of the money raised by the pageant was spent on six public benches for the town. In 1915, it was decided to allocate the remaining funds to a special project: a new set of gates to the Recreation Ground. This aimed both to commemorate the pageant and the Belgian refugees in the town; its designer, a M. Hermans, had himself fled from Belgium when the Germans had invaded.3 A further pageant was held in Church Stretton in 1927 and Shropshire held a large county pageant at Ludlow in 1934.4

Footnotes

1. ^ ‘Church Stretton - The first town in Shropshire to be 'Walkers Are Welcome’, Shropshire Tourism, accessed 20 July 2016, https://www.shropshiretourism.co.uk/town/church-stretton.html
2. ^ Alan Brisbourne, ‘The Great Stretton Pageant’, Stretton Focus (August 2013), 7.
3. ^ Alan Brisborune, ‘Belgian Refugees in Church Stretton: August 1914’, Stretton Focus (October 2014), 29.
4. ^ A.P. Baggs, G.C. Baugh, D.C. Cox, Jessie McFall and P.A. Stamper, 'Church Stretton', in A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 10, Munslow Hundred (Part), the Liberty and Borough of Wenlock, ed. C R J Currie (London, 1998), 72-120, accessed 20 July 2016, British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol10/pp72-120.

How to cite this entry

Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘Church Stretton Historical Pageant’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1456/