Join us this Whit Sunday as we resurrect an ancient tradition commemorating Princess Elizabeth’s visit in May 1554 to give thanks for the bellringers of our parish.
For over two months in 1554, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth I) had been confined to the Tower of London – momentarily expecting that Bishop Gardiner would succeed in persuading Queen Mary to cut her head off. On 19th May 1554, Lord Williams of Thame – a relative of Thomas Cromwell – was ordered to remove her to Woodstock for further detention.
Princess Elizabeth was taken by Lord Williams to the church of All Hallows Staining (now part of this parish) to render thanks to God for the preservation of her life. The bells of the church rang out a joyous peal. The Princess is later said to have remarked how their ringing kept her spirits up while imprisoned.
After the service, Lord Williams took the Princess to ‘The King Henry Tavern’ next door for a meal of ‘pork and pease’. Its successor – The London Tavern proudly displayed the platter and knife used by the Princess in a glass case until the site was destroyed in the Blitz.
After her accession to the throne in November 1558, Elizabeth presented new silken bell-ropes to the bellringers at All Hallows Staining. Following which, the parishioners held an annual service of thanksgiving – for some 280 years, with a ‘pork and pease’ dinner at the pub, until rationing during the Napoleonic wars put an end to the custom.
The church archives record a number of notable ‘pork and pease’ dinners, including one in 1768 attended by two Churchwardens at the time Messrs Davison and Newman, whose names would become better known five years later as the owners of the tea that was thrown overboard in Boston Harbour.
The Royal visit is commemorated in a stained glass window in the parish church of St Olave Hart Street, with which All Hallows Staining was amalgamated in 1870.
The commemoration of Princess Elizabeth’s visit was briefly revived in 1954, the year St Olave Hart Street reopened after restoration, with a special lunch of pork and pease at Trinity House, hosted by The Clothworkers’ Company. Princess Alice, Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, was the guest of honour.
We have decided to resurrect the tradition this year on Whit Sunday – 24th May at 11am at St Olave Hart Street. Following our service of Holy Communion, which will include a baptism, our bellringers – the University of London Society of Change Ringers – will ring a special quarterpeal in honour of Elizabeth’s visit, including ‘Queens’ changes and ‘Firing’. We will enjoy the sound of the bells from the churchyard where pork and pease will be served in honour of Princess Elizabeth’s visit.
The service and ringing is free to attend. Please register if you wish to attend to help us with catering. Donations towards the cost of catering are welcome.
