The Axbridge Pageant

Pageant type

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Performances

Place: Town square (Axbridge) (Axbridge, Somerset, England)

Year: 1980

Indoors/outdoors: Outdoors

Number of performances: 2

Notes

Saturday 23 August and Sunday 24 August 1980, 2.30pm.

Dress rehearsal Sunday 17 August 1980.

Name of pageant master and other named staff

  • Producer [Pageant Master]: Griffiths, Anne1
  • Press Secretary: Mrs Jan Rance
  • Committee Secretary: Jill Helps
  • Narrators: Huw Griffith and Philip Graham

Names of executive committee or equivalent

There was a 'pageant committee', but names are not available.

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

  • Cowap, Chris

Notes

The same script as 1967 and 1970 – written by Chris Cowap – was used, with some additions by an unnamed author.

Names of composers

n/a

Numbers of performers

300

Men, women and children. Horses and dogs.

Financial information

More than £2000 was raised.3

Object of any funds raised

To raise funds to save the parish church of St John the Baptist.

Linked occasion

n/a

Audience information

  • Grandstand: Yes
  • Grandstand capacity: n/a
  • Total audience: 3000

Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest

It appears that the pageant was no longer free, but there is no evidence of ticket prices.

Associated events

ACE (Axbridge Church Enterprises) arranged a country fayre in the square with the theme ‘Made in Axbridge’ (local agricultural and home industry goods, e.g., jams, toys and scarves).
Before both afternoon performances a local ladies Morris dance group performed in the square.
In the Town Hall, there was a display of the actual charters given to the town by different sovereigns over the years.

Pageant outline

Scene I. Roman Conquest, 55 AD

In 43 AD Emperor Claudius invaded Britain. Within six years his troops were shipping lead from Charterhouse on Mendip and the conquered Britons were forced into labour.

Scene II. King and Saint, 943 AD

A fifteenth century Axbridge Chronicle tells the story of King Edmund’s quarrel with St Dunstan and how, having narrowly escaped death on Cheddar cliffs ,he made his peace.

Scene III. A Royal Hunt, c.1207 AD

Like many early monarchs King John relaxed by hunting on [the] Mendip [Hills]. Our museum, a fifteenth century Merchant’s House, has long been called ‘King John’s Hunting Lodge’.

Scene IV. Elizabethan Charter, 1599 AD

Axbridge has many Royal Charters (the first from Henry III in 1229). Elizabeth I granted the Charter by which Axbridge was governed until 1883.

Scene V. Jacobean Maces, 1623 AD

James I’s Charter granted Axbridge two silver maces and brought West Street under the town’s jurisdiction.

Scene VI. A Queen’s Visit, 1644 AD

Twelve shillings was paid to ‘Richard Stroude for beere for the Ringers at the coming of the Queen to Axbridge’. The Queen here is Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I.

Scene VII. Monmouth’s Rebellion, 1685 AD

Seven Axbridge men joined the Duke of Monmouth’s doomed attempt to claim the Throne of England.

Scene VIII. Come to the Fair, Mid-18th Century

Ancient Charters granted four annual fairs at the Feast of St Blaixe, Lady Day, St Bartholomew and St Simon and St Jude.

Scene IX. Hannah More, 1891 AD

The great feast on Callow Hill was part of Hannah More’s attempt to reform the wretched children of Axbridge.

Scene X. The Iron Horse, 1869 AD

The hundred years between 1869 and 1969 saw the coming and the going of the railway at Axbridge.

Scene XI. Horseless Carriage, 1900-1930

The motor car replaced the train, bringing with it the problem of traffic congestion.

Scene XII. Remembrance, 1914-1918 AD and 1939-1945 AD

Scene XIII. Hope for the Future

Grand Finale

Key historical figures mentioned

  • Edmund I (920/21–946) king of England
  • Dunstan [St Dunstan] (d. 988)archbishop of Canterbury
  • John (1167–1216) king of England, and lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine, and count of Anjou
  • Henrietta Maria [Princess Henrietta Maria of France] (1609–1669) queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, consort of Charles I
  • More, Hannah (1745–1833) writer and philanthropist

Musical production

It seems likely there was both recorded and live music.

Newspaper coverage of pageant

Cheddar Valley Gazette
Weston Mercury, Somerset and Avon Herald

Book of words

n/a

Other primary published materials

  • Axbridge Pageant: History in the Making, Axbridge, 1980. Souvenir programme. Accessed 3 June 2014. http://79.170.40.33/beewhizz.co.uk/Pageant/thumb-pageant%201980%20edbrooke%20programme.gif.

Price 35p.

References in secondary literature

  • Mottram, Harry. ‘The Axbridge Pageant’. Somerset Magazine 10, August 2000, 28-29.

Bartie, Angela, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme and Paul Readman. 'Performing the Past: Identity, Civic Culture and Historical Pageants in Twentieth-Century Small Towns'. In Small Towns in Europe and Beyond: 20th-21st Century, edited by Luda Klusakova. Prague, forthcoming.

Archival holdings connected to pageant

  • Photos. Accessed 3 June 2014. https://www.flickr.com/photos/axbridgepageant/sets/72157622385030713/show/.
  • Dedicated pageant website. Accessed 3 June 2014. http://www.axbridgepageant.org.uk/.

Sources used in preparation of pageant

  • 15th Century Axbridge Chronicle.

Summary

The Axbridge Pageant of 1980 was the third outing of the event, again using the 1967 script of Chris Cowap, with some new additions. Anne Griffiths, a drama teacher, was the director.6 It was, at this time, the largest staging of the pageant, now with two performances, a grandstand, and an extra fifty performers. In the main, however, it replicated the same ethos of the previous pageants. In the slightly more glossy programme the organisers rhetorically asked, ‘Why a pageant?’ Their answer was: ‘because Axbridge people are proud of their history, and the present-day character of their ancient town, its people and customs, and would like to share these with a wider world’, not to mention the ‘great demand for a repeat of the 1967 and 1970 pageants.’7 Following this new short introduction, the text of the programme was a replica of the 1970 programme (see entry for 1970 Axbridge Pageant). In terms of its production, the pageant now took place mainly on the stage erected in the town square, with less processional activity than in the 1967 and (probably) 1970 enactments. It was narrated by Huw Griffith and Philip Graham.

While the 1970 pageant had been exactly the same as the 1967 event, the 1980 pageant added three new scenes (for analysis of the themes of the original script, see the entry for the 1967 Axbridge Pageant). First, a new fifth scene titled Jacobean Maces, in which James I gave a charter that granted the two silver maces and brought West Street under the town’s jurisdiction. Reflecting the increased importance given to administrative history, a display of the actual charters given to the town was held in the Town Hall at the same time as the pageant.8 Another, final, scene titled ‘Hope for the Future’ was added—though it is not clear what this entailed. Certainly the most poignant of the added scenes was ‘Remembrance’, which commemorated the dead of the two world wars as well as the tragic Basle air disaster of 1973.9 This latter event, in which 108 people were killed, the majority of whom included members of the Axbridge Ladies Guild and the Cheddar Mums’ Night Out group, as well as skittles players from Wrington and Congresbury, was particularly painful for the town. As Sue Cooke, a local woman who lost 11 members of her immediate family, remembered 40 years later, some local people had been frightened to speak to bereaved relatives. Jude Phillips, too, whose mother and sister died, recalled: ‘Nobody could take it in. With relatives out and about, people would walk on the other side of the road—they just didn’t know what to say.’10 In amongst the fun of the pageant there was clearly still a space for collective grief and remembrance.

In comparison to the 1967 and 1970 pageants, it seems to have been slightly more monetised; a grandstand was now erected, with tickets seemingly no longer free, and the purpose of ‘raising much-needed money for restoring the parish church of St John the Baptist’ featured in the press and in the programme, alongside the goal of placing the town ‘firmly on the map’. Sponsorship was also garnered from local businesses, as well as more grass-roots fundraising.11 Other commercial events were run alongside the pageant, most notably a country fayre organised by ACE (Axbridge Church Enterprises) with the theme ‘Made in Axbridge’ where local products were sold. Most of the original ethos of the pageant remained, however. Most costumes continued to be made by local women, and those that were hired out were at the expense of the performers.12 The director also declared the ‘whole pageant… an exercise in community spirit and co-operation.’13

As with the previous two pageants, the director claimed the event to be a great success: ‘Everyone was so happy and it was a super experience.’14 The Cheddar Valley Gazette was equally complimentary, describing as a ‘mammoth extravaganza of Axbridge’s life past and present’ after ‘months of pageant fever’.15 The Weston Mercury, Somerset and Avon Herald also judged it a hit, suggesting ‘the main ingredient of success was the strong community spirit.’16 It was undeniably a financial success, too, bringing in more than £2000.17 While the pageant may have had a profit motive it was still, above all, an exercise in community spirit and shared history. The inclusion of scenes of remembrance at the end of the pageant only heightened this aspect, displaying how historical pageantry could be both frivolous and sombre. Perhaps most importantly, the pageant had grown in size and in seriousness, providing a compelling example of the continued popularity of pageant in some places in Britain in the late twentieth century.

Footnotes

  1. ^ It is possible that Griffiths is the married name of Anne Cannon, producer of the 1970 pageant, since Harry Mottram identifies Griffiths as the producer of the 1970 pageant. Harry Mottram, ‘The Axbridge Pageant’, Somerset Magazine 10, August 2000, 28.
  2. ^ ‘Axbridge Ready for Mammoth Pageant’, Cheddar Valley Gazette, 14 August 1980, 1.
  3. ^ ‘Axbridge Relives its Long History’, Weston Mercury, Somerset and Avon Herald, 29 August 1980, 1.
  4. ^ ‘Axbridge Relives its Long History’, Weston Mercury, Somerset and Avon Herald, 29 August 1980, 1.
  5. ^ The press secretary stated: ‘The script was taken from the last pageant and basically we worked round it adding more.’ ‘Axbridge Ready for Mammoth Pageant’, Cheddar Valley Gazette, 14 August 1980, 1.
  6. ^ It is possible that Griffiths is the married name of Anne Cannon, producer of the 1970 pageant, since Harry Mottram identifies Griffiths as the producer of the 1970 pageant. Harry Mottram, ‘The Axbridge Pageant’, Somerset Magazine 10, August 2000, 28.
  7. ^ Axbridge Pageant: History in the Making, Souvenir Programme, accessed 3 June 2014, http://79.170.40.33/beewhizz.co.uk/Pageant/thumb-pageant%201980%20edbrooke%20programme.gif.
  8. ^ ‘Axbridge Gets Ready for Pageant 1980’, Cheddar Valley Gazette, 21 August 1980, 1.
  9. ^ ‘Crowd Enjoys Axbridge’s Big Pageant’, Cheddar Valley Gazette, 28 August 1980, 1.
  10. ^ ‘Basle Air Crash: The Mothers Who Never Came Home’, 10 April 2013, BBC News, accessed 3 June 2014, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-22077051; ‘40th Anniversary of the Basel Swiss Air Disaster that Killed Axbridge and Cheddar Mothers’, Western Daily Press, 10 April 2013, accessed 3 June 2014, http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/40th-anniversary-Basel-Swiss-Air-Disaster-killed/story-18597422-detail/story.html.
  11. ^ ‘Axbridge Ready for Mammoth Pageant’, Cheddar Valley Gazette, 14 August 1980, 1.
  12. ^ ‘Axbridge Ready for Mammoth Pageant’, 1.
  13. ^ ‘Axbridge Gets Ready for Pageant 1980’, 1.
  14. ^ ‘Crowd Enjoys Axbridge’s Big Pageant’, 1.
  15. ^ ‘Axbridge Ready for Mammoth Pageant’, 1; ‘Crowd Enjoys Axbridge’s Big Pageant’, 1.
  16. ^ ‘Axbridge Relives its Long History’, Weston Mercury, Somerset and Avon Herald, 29 August 1980, 1.
  17. ^ Ibid., 1.

How to cite this entry

Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘The Axbridge Pageant’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/975/