Changing seasons bring early harvest to medieval Rievaulx Abbey

Lammas, Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 August 2012

Whilst in the 21stcentury, the wet summer has led to harvest coming late to North Yorkshire, Rievaulx Abbey will be turning the clock back to the 15thcentury, when a good warm July has brought about an early harvest! On Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 August, visitors will be invited to join the residents of medieval Rievaulx for a celebration of Lammas.

Lammas was a medieval festival to mark the start of the harvest, when the first loaf made from the freshly harvested wheat would have been blessed in church, marking the start of an incredibly busy season for agricultural families who would spend the next few weeks manually harvesting the crops to keep their communities fed over the colder winter months.

“Lammas means ‘loaf mass’, as this marked the start of the first harvest, and in superstitious society, this blessing should ensure a good harvest – on good years, this would mean that communities had extra wheat and produce to sell, whilst a poor year could mean food shortages and famine over the winter,” explains event manager, Jon Hogan.

Throughout the weekend, visitors will be able to meet the 15thcentury traders and farmers who would have worked the land around the Rievaulx estate. Two re-enactment groups – the York City Levy and the Gloucester Household – will set up encampments around the atmospheric ruins, and indeed, visitors will be greeted by the smell of bread baking in a traditional medieval oven as the re-enactors carry out one of the most important jobs of the harvest – making the first loaf.

The event runs each day from 11.00am to 5.00pm, with Rievaulx Abbey itself open from 10.00am to 6.00pm. Admission prices are £6.50 for adults, £6.00 for concessions and £4.50 for children, or free for English Heritage members.

Lammas is the second event in Rievaulx Abbey’s Medieval Year series of events. The final chapter takes place on Saturday 29 & Sunday 30 September, when the medieval residents of Rievaulx celebrate Michaelmas, the feast of St Michael, the Archangel.

For more information, please visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/rievaulxabbey or call 01439 798228.

ENDS

For further media information, please contact:

Jay Commins – PRO English Heritage (Yorkshire)

Tel: 0113 251 5698

Mob: 07810 546567

Email: jay@fim.org.uk