Quaint, great and curious traditions

Beating the Bounds

An ancient tradition amidst the cacophony of the modern High Street

Each year on Ascension day the two Parishes of Oxford City and the University set off in procession with a gang of boys in a tradition which harks back to the days when the location of their boundary was critical knowledge for tithe collectors, the poor and the wealthy. You wanted to be sure you were paying your tithes to the right parish and not looking after the poor of another.

The boundaries were identified by a stone; a point on a stream; a gateway. Once located guided by the Parish’s priest, Youngsters (boys) would beat the boundary with willow switches, and the hope was this would lodge the locations into the collective memory of the the city.

The tradition dates back to Alfred the Great in the 10th century when maps were a scarce rarity.

What was a gateway or an alley then, is now in unexpected corners and joining the ceremony will take you on detours through nooks and crannies and behind closed doors of the city.

Small traditions of hospitality and folklore occur along the route and little prayers are made for all on the routes. The City band set of from St Michael’s Church on the corner of Cornmarket and Ship Street, and the University from St Mary the Virgin University Church.

Arabella Campbell’s Oxford Sauasage here gives a lovely account and pictures of the City Parish boundaries and the photographs and video below, thanks to Martyn Sené are taken from the route of the University parish.

The other side of the wall

Boundary goes off piste. On the grass!

Hospitality from All Soul’s, and a reference to another curious tradition

All Soul’s hall