Hallingbury Morley Events which is a fundraising group of the combined PCC’s of St Giles’, Great Hallingbury and St Mary’s, Little Hallingbury is holding a Tudor Weekend on 1st and 2nd October at St Giles’ Church, Great Hallingbury.
Great and Little Hallingbury have much shared history, for in Tudor times large parts of the two villages were merged as one. This larger village was known as Hallingbury Morley, after the local Lords. There will be a Tudor themed exhibition, a fete and flower festival in and around St Giles’ in Great Hallingbury on both the Saturday and Sunday, starting at 1pm – 5pm (free entrance). In honour of the fact that every year through the Tudor period St Giles held a drinking in the churchyard to raise funds, Hadham Brewery will be supplying real ale. There will also be a Tudor music group playing during both afternoons.
There will be special events, too, starting with the story of a daughter of the Morley family, Jane, who married Anne Boleyn’s brother at St Giles’ Church, was a lady-in-waiting to several of Henry VIII’s wives and was eventually executed for her role in the Katherine Howard affair. On the Saturday morning there will be talks about the family, led by Julia Fox who is the primary biographer of Jane Boleyn and takes issue with her description as the Infamous Lady Rochford! Entry will be by ticket at £12.50 including refreshments. Tickets can be purchased from hallingburymorley@gmail.com.
In the evening there will be a concert of Tudor music including choral pieces from the De Merc choir and a performance by renowned Tudor instrumentalist, Lizzie Gutteridge. Tickets are £15 including refreshments and are available from hallingburymorley@gmail.com.
Activities will continue into the Sunday with the morning service being a recreation of a sung 1549 Matins conducted by the new Bishop of Chelmsford. The fête will then continue into the afternoon from 1pm-5pm.
The BSDFA will be organising a walk from St Giles’ Church on the Sunday morning to coincide with this event. For details of the walk please refer to our website. https://www.walksaroundstortford.org.uk/
