The Easter Story has been celebrated in England for many centuries and many different traditions developed in different parts of the country. Some of them are still in use to this day, but many of them are old traditions that seem strange to us today!

Morris Dancing

Morris Men celebrated Easter by entertaining people with their dances. With bell pads on their shins or on their shoes and waving handkerchiefs, a team of men performed choreographed dances to eh sound of their own bells. The Clown in Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well refers to the energy and stamina that was required of the Morris Men when he describes someone as ‘fit as … a Morris for May-day’. Shakepseare’s fellow player, William Kemp, even described himself as ‘head-master of Morrice dauncers’. Not everyone appreciated their dancing – some people called them ‘madde men’ with their ‘Devils dance’. Find out more about Morris dancing here.

Royal Maundy Distribution

The royal tradition that occurs on Maundy Thursday each year is based on the Last Supper when Christ washed the feet of his disciples. The tradition started when Edward II washed the feet of the poor as an act of humility. In modern ceremonies today the King does not wash feet, instead he distributes specially minted silver coins. The coins are given to local pensioners in two small leather purses one red and one white. You can find out more about the royal ceremony here.

Butterworth or Widow’s Charity

The Church of St Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield is one of the oldest parish churches in London. It has a tiny churchyard in which stands a horizontal table-top gravestone. At this gravestone a strange ceremony used to take place: twenty-one poor widows assembled and walked across the gravestone to receive a silver sixpence placed there by the church warden. As each widow walked across they were given a silver coin and a hot cross bun. Today the strange ceremony has been replaced by the distribution of hot cross buns to local children. Read more here.

British Marble Championships

The British Marble Championships takes place in Crawle, Sussex, every year at  Easter. Players come from all over the world: players from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Ireland, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Wales and the United States. The tradition is said to have started in 1588, but marbles have been around for much longer. Made of round pieces of stone or glass, the Roman poet called Ovid wrote about them and the last Emperor Romulus Augustus played the game as a child. Find out more here.

Pace-Egg Play

What is a Pace-Egg? Pace comes from the word Paschal with is another word for Passover, so the Pace egg refers back to the Passover Festival described in the Old Testament. It was during the time of the Passover Festival that Christ was crucified in Ancient Judea.

The Pace-Egg plays were traditionally performed in the North of England at Easter. They draw on the traditions of the medieval mystery plays and are based on mock fights performed by Pace Eggers. Mock combats between a hero and a villain result in the death of the hero but he is miraculously brought back to life (often by a quack doctor). Popular characters in these plays include St George, the Noble Knight, a Turkish Knight, the Lady Gay, the Solder Brave.

Pace Eggs were exchanged at the end of the plays. Beautifully decorated eggs which had been wrapped in onion skins and boiled to give a mottled gold colour, or wrapped in pressed flowers or leaves first for a beautiful imprint. You can read more about the Pace Egg plays here.

Easter Bonnets

Easter is a time of celebration and many people celebrated by wearing new clothes or taking out their best outfits. A book from the sixteenth century called ‘Poor Robin’ referred to this tradition: “At Easter let your clothes be new, or else be sure you will it rue”.

As part of this tradition, many people also wore specially-designed Easter bonnets to celebrate. These bonnets or hats were often homemade and decorated with items that had special significance or symbolism relating to Easter such as flowers, eggs, lace, feathers. In the nineteenth century Easter bonnets were extravagantly decorated by ladies of high fashion and even by Queen Victoria and her court as well! See vintage images and read more here.