Wise Men arrive on Cawston vicar’s tractor

Three wise men hitched a lift to Cawston Church on a vintage tractor, followed by a parade of tractors and parishioners, in the village’s annual Plough Sunday procession.

Over the last four years, the tradition has been reborn in Cawston by the local church, and on Sunday 4 January a procession of ten tractors, old and new, followed by over 80 villagers, walked from Sygate to Cawston in the glorious winter sun.
 
There was a short stop outside Broadland Winery for a spot of carol singing, and then on to Church Farm where the tractors and ploughs were blessed. The procession finished in 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 Ferguson tractor, right.
 
Team Vicar, Rev Andrew Whitehead, said, “Plough Sunday was the best yet this year, helped by the fantastic sunshine! Over 80 people came out to help us extend the season of Christmas celebrations just a little bit further. It was good to be part of the procession of tractors again on my little 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.”
 
Find out more about Plough Sunday in this video produced by Cawston Parish Church a few years ago.
 
The photos are all courtesy of Rebecca Whitehead.
 

Do you have a news story or forthcoming event relating to Christians or a church in North Norfolk?  

If so, e-mail tony.rothe@networknorwich.co.uk with details and, if possible a suitable picture.