Beating of the Bounds

SPECIAL EVENTS

Beating of the Bounds

On Thursday 26 May a group of students travelled up to All Hallows by the Tower to take part in the ancient tradition of Beating the Bounds. This custom is still observed in many English parishes and its roots go back to mediaeval times when parishes reaffirmed their boundaries by processing round them at Rogationtide, stopping to beat each boundary mark with wands and to pray for protection and blessings for the land.

The students very much enjoyed taking part in the Beating Party, something that had not been able to take place for two years due to Covid restrictions. The south boundary of the parish is mid-stream of the Thames and the Beating Party board a boat which takes them out onto the river to beat that boundary mark. They then return to shore and the procession moves around the parish, stopping at various points to allow the beaters to mark the boundaries with canes as they go. The party then returned to All-Hallows by the Tower where St Dunstan’s Chapel Choir sang at the Festal Evensong service for Ascension Day with senior prefects and the Head reading prayers. Every third year the ceremony includes a ‘battle’ with the Governor and Yeomen Warders of HM Tower of London at the boundary mark shared by the Tower and the church. During the Middle Ages the boundary was always in dispute, and this meeting commemorates an occasion in 1698 when a riot took place between the people of the Tower and those of the parish. The Triennial Battle took place following the service of Festal Evensong and fortunately for all concerned, the exchange is now rather more peaceful than in the past!