Plough Sunday ploughs on, in spite of the weather with more planned this weekend

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Sunday’s cold and wet weather did nothing to deter a hardy band of Norfolk villagers, who turned out in number to support Cawston’s Plough Sunday procession.

Over the last three years, the tradition has been reborn in Cawston by the local church, and on Sunday 5th January 2025 a procession of tractors, old and new, followed by over 60 villagers, walked from Sygate to Cawston in the freezing rain! Rather than singing and dancing in the inclement weather, the carols were reserved for the church where there was a short act of worship involving the horse-drawn plough that was once used in the fields around Cawston, and the Three Wise Men, who arrived at the church on the back of the Vicar’s vintage tractor.

Team Vicar, Rev Andrew Whitehead, said, “Plough Sunday is once again a firm fixture in Cawston’s Christmas calendar, and this year was the best yet, even in the rain! It was good to be part of the procession of tractors this year on my newly acquired grey fergie, and a privilege to deliver the wise men to the church’s nativity scene.”

As well as drawing vintage tractor enthusiasts, the event also involved members of the local farming community. Prayers were said for those who work in agriculture, and the tractors and implements were blessed for their ongoing work to provide our food.

Plough Sunday was, at one time, a major event in the towns and villages of East Anglia. On the first Sunday/Monday after Epiphany, a plough would be drawn through the streets accompanied by singing, dancing and drinking. The plough would be blessed as the agricultural community began a new season of ploughing and growing in the fields.

In medieval times, Cawston had a Plough Guild which met at the nearby Plough Inn in Sygate. On Plough Sunday or Monday, the guild would process the plough from Sygate into the village of Cawston with great ceremony and festivity, raising money for the guild and highlighting the importance of agriculture to the village community. They would also light candles and say prayers for a fruitful harvest in the year to come.

The church of St Agnes in Cawston is one of many in Norfolk to house a horse-drawn plough – a reminder of the way we used to work the land. The church also contains other artefacts which tell the story of the traditions involving the plough. When the Plough Inn closed in the sixties, the pub sign was given to the church and is still proudly displayed above the plough. The church also has a gallery dedicated to the Plough Guild, with an inscription carved on its edge…”God spede the plow and send us ale corn enow oor purpose for to make: At crow of cok of the plowlete of Sygate: Be mery and glade wat good ale yis work mad.”