A recent enquiry about the Oak Apple Day in Great Wishford proved to be an interesting one to research. I had heard of the phrase ‘Grovely, Grovely, Grovely and all Grovely’ but did not know what it meant. This was an opportunity to put that right.

The ceremony takes place on May 29th. It dates back to at least 1603 when the Charter of the Forest Court of Grovely granted the inhabitants the right to collect dead wood all year round, cut green boughs on Oak Apple Day, pasture cattle, gather nuts and acorns and allow pigs to root in the forest.

However, the villagers were exercising their common law rights long before this.

In 1957 Ralph Whitlock was a guest at the lunch, and he wrote a detailed account of the festivities.

The day began well before dawn when the young people processed through the village, waking up all the residents by making as much noise as possible. Bells were rung, trumpets played, pots and pans clanged, until every house showed a light to prove they were awake. The whole village then walked to Grovely woods to exercise their ancient rights and customs.

Every household collected green boughs from oak trees with which to decorate their houses. Some keen gardeners would also take advantage of the opportunity to collect their year’s supply of bean sticks! There were prizes on offer for the oak branch bearing the largest number of oak-apples and for the best decorated house.

Some of the men were intent on finding a huge, oak bough to take back to the village and hoist to the top of St. Giles’ church tower, having first decorated it with coloured ribbons. The Marriage Bough brought good fortune to those who were married in the church that year.

At 10.00am a coach arrived to take some of the villagers to Salisbury Cathedral. The villagers gathered in the Cathedral Close with their banner and proceeded to the west door, outside which four women performed two dances. The representatives of the Dean and Chapter lead the procession to the high altar. After a few words of welcome, the relevant part of the Charter was read out. The villagers then responded with the shout of ‘Grovely, Grovely, Grovely and all Grovely.’ The third ‘Grovely’ (one more than appears in the Charter) may date to the beginning of the 20th century, when a villager was asked how much of Grovely forest the villagers claimed right to. His reply was ‘just three thirds and no more’!

The party then returned to Wishford in time for the official lunch.

With the exception of the war years, the lunch has taken place in a field every year since the late 19th century. The field is called Oak Apple Field. Until 1947 it was next to the Royal Oak Hotel and the landlord provided the meal. Since then, it has taken place in a field in the centre of the village with the catering being the responsibility of either a catering firm or the villagers themselves. As well as all the villagers (in 2011 the population was 368) there are always guests. Over the years these have included Lord Lieutenants, the Lord of the Manor, Bishops of Salisbury and MPs.

After lunch there was a procession through the village. Both children and adults were in fancy dress. The May Queen was on her throne with her attendants and the children of the village school were also in costume. There were floats, a band and the dancers who earlier performed at the Cathedral. Lastly, all the villagers processed behind two men carrying the village banner.

The procession finished in the Oak Apple Field and the afternoon was given over to a traditional fete. Originally there were athletic sports, quoits and skittles, followed by tea.

The ceremonial aspects of the day have changed, stopped, and re-started many times over the centuries. The ceremony of going to the Cathedral goes back to the 1603 charter, which says:

‘The Lords, Freeholders, Tenants and Inhabitants of the Manor of Great Wishford, or so many of them as would, in ancient time have used to go in a dance to the Cathedral Church of our Blessed Lady in the City of New Sarum on Whit-Tuesday, in the said County of Wilts, and there made their claim to their custom in the Forest of Grovely in these words Grovely! Grovely!! And All Grovely!!!

Whit-Tuesday coincided with a Whitsuntide fair that was held in the Cathedral Close. This was a lively and sometimes riotous affair that was officially suppressed in 1833. At some time between 1660 and the 1830s, the ceremony date was changed to Whit-Monday. Two women went to the Cathedral each year to represent the bough-bearers; they took with them oak branches, which they laid on the altar. The last person to perform this ceremony died in 1853. Following her death on 11th April 1871 aged 87, Ann Trubridge was described as the last woman to dance before the Cathedral altar.

A second dance, which took place from at least 1904 to 1927, was the ‘Claim Rights’ dance. At least three women, dressed in 19th century fieldworkers’ costume, performed a dance in memory of Grace Read of Barford St Martin and her three companions, who were arrested and imprisoned in 1825 after taking wood from Grovely. The same ladies also walked in the procession.

In 1885, there were articles and letters in the Salisbury Journal asking when the visit to the Cathedral stopped. (I have not been able to find the exact dates). There is no mention of the Cathedral again until 1925, when villagers offered to send a deputation to decorate the Cathedral with flowers, ‘as an offering to the Cathedral for use as a thanksgiving for their rights in Grovely, and also to reassert these rights’. There is no indication that the offer was ever considered.

It was not until 1951 that the custom of visiting the Cathedral was revived. Ever since then, ladies have both danced at the Cathedral and taken part in the procession. The villagers travel to the Cathedral Close by coach. They process to the green outside the west door where the dancers perform their ‘Claim Rights’ dance. The Dean of Salisbury leads the procession to the high altar.

The Oak Apple Club was established c 1892. It organises the festivities and over the years has also resolved disputes. The villagers legally protected their wood rights at court in 1292, 1318, 1332 and 1825 from landowners eager to use the wood for hunting. The club was formed to ensure that the villagers’ rights and customs would always be remembered and protected. Its meetings were also a good opportunity to arrange the Oak Apple Day events.

Membership of the club is open to Wishford residents over the age of 14. The annual subscription has traditionally been kept low and was 25p (5-/-) for more than 30 years. Another tradition is that the Rector of the parish is the president of the Club. Meetings were held either in the open air or in the Royal Oak. The Club currently has a Facebook page where you can see lots of pictures of last year’s event: Wishford Oak Apple Club | Facebook

Helen Taylor
Senior Community History Advisor

Sources:
Frampton, George: Grovely!, Grovely!, Grovely! And all Grovely! The history of Oak Apple Day in Great Wishford (1992)

Ross, C C G: the story of Oak Apple Day in Wishford Magna (1987)
WSHC 3040: Great Wishford Oak Apple Club.

WSHC 3012/118: The Estate of Ralph Whitlock. Article & correspondence between Ralph Whitlock & others about Wishford Oak Apple Feast. (1957-65)

WSHC 3877/2/2: Original material relating to the history of Great Wishford. This item includes papers relating to the Oak Apple Club.

WSHC 776/707: Copy of the 1603 Wishford & Barford custom of the Forest of Grovely.

WSHC 2057/E2/1: Earl of Pembroke. Papers relating to the customary rights in Grovely belonging to villagers in Wishford and Barford St. Martin. (1764-1896)