Lustleigh May Day

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Maypole in Lustleigh in Spider's Web pattern

The Lustleigh May Day is an annual May Day celebration in the village of Lustleigh, Devon. It involves the traditional maypole dancing, as well as the crowning of a May Queen from the eligible girls of the village. It is generally held on the first Saturday of May.[1][2]

History

The tradition of going "a-maying" is long held in the United Kingdom, with the association of collecting fresh flowers to crown the "fairest maiden in the village", and dancing round the maypole is also a tradition linked to the coming of spring.[3][4]

The current version of this was revived by Cecil Torr of Wreyland in 1905, with children parading through the village to Long Tor farm, on a hill above the village, for maypole dancing and traditional fete games such as bowling for a pig.[5] This corrected what Torr saw as an anomaly of the village children doing maypole dancing at the flower show and other village events, but not actually on May Day.[3][6]

There is a May-day festival here, for which I am responsible. There used to be dancing round the May-pole at the flower-show and other festivals, but none upon May-day itself; and I put an end to that anomaly. The children at Lustleigh school—boys and girls—elect one of the girls as Queen, and her name is carved upon a rock on the hill behind this house. Then on May-day the Queen walks in procession under a canopy of flowers carried by four of the boys, her crown and sceptre being carried by two others; then come her maids of honour; and then all the other children of the school, most of them carrying flowers in garlands or on staves. The procession winds along through Lustleigh and through Wreyland, halting at certain places to sing the customary songs, and at last ascends the hill behind here. The Queen is enthroned upon a rock looking down upon the May-pole: the crown of flowers is placed upon her head, and the arum-lily sceptre in her hand: the maids of honour do their homage, laying their bouquets at her feet; and the four-and-twenty dancers perform their dance before her. Then comes the serious business of the day—the children’s tea. This year, 1917, there was a shortage of cereals; but I saved the situation with two hundred hard-boiled eggs.

— Cecil Torr, Small Talk at Wreyland Vol I

The 1939 May Day was postponed by a week, due to an outbreak of sickness at the village school.[7]

The event was originally held on the second Thursday, being during the week to allow the school children of the village school to take part.[8] From at least the 1950s, the event was moved to a Saturday.[9]

The 1959 May Queen, Christine Moore, fell from the rock following her crowning,[10] but was ultimately unhurt.[11]

There is also a long tradition of morris dancing accompanying the event.[12]

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person event had to be cancelled, and a virtual May Day was held.[13] The May Queen was crowned in person along with the 2021 and 2022 queens during the 2022 event.

May day rock and throne

Since the 1905 revival, part of the Lustleigh celebration is the carving of the name of the May Queen on to a granite boulder.[14] Two rocks have been used for this purpose, the original one on private land (then owned by Cecil Torr) on the hillside above the village, and latterly in the 'Town Orchard' in the village centre.

Original rock at Long Tor

Original rock used to carve names of May Queens for Lustleigh May Day from 1905 to 1940

The names of all the May Queens from 1905 to the second world war are carved on the rock at Long Tor, on the hill above Cecil Torr's house at Wreyland.[15]

At the time it was used, all of Torr's Wreyland estate was within the Bovey Tracey parish,[15] despite its proximity to the village.[16] The boundary was moved in 1929, as both Wreyland and Brookfield were annexed to Lustleigh,[17] bringing the rock inside Lustleigh parish.[15]

Over time, the older rock at Long Tor was subject to weathering and by 1977, some of it was indecipherable.[18] The Long Tor rock was restored by the Lustleigh Society in 2025.

Current rock at Town Orchard

Following the post-war revival, the event moved to the Town Orchard in the village centre, where a new rock was carved, and all May Queens from 1954 to present are engraved upon it.[3][19]

On top of the granite boulder in the orchard is a granite throne,[20] carved into local granite from Blackenstone Quarry to celebrate the millennium, and bearing the 'MM' mark.[11]

Participants and format

The children who take part are from the village, or connected to it, and are aged between 5 and 15.[21]

The parade takes place with the May Queen leading the procession around the village underneath a canopy of flowers carried by other children, before returning to the May Day rock throne for crowning.[22]

May Queens

May Queen Rock detail

The May Queens since the revival in 1905 were:

Year Queen
1905 Mabel Bunclarke
1906 Olive Chudley
1907 Annie Menhennett[23]
1908 Amy Wyatt[24]
1909 Florrie Valance[25]
1910 Ethel Squires[26]
1911 Alice Howard
1912 Dorothy Motton[27]
1913 Muriel Brimblecombe
1914 Janie Lake[28]
1915 Guinevere Morecombe
1916 Irene Crockford
1917 May Yeoman
1918 Gertrude Parker
1919 Gladys Waldron[29]
1920 Vera Hill
1921 May Wonnacott
1922 Phyllis Yeoman
1923 Florrie Aggett
1924 Josephine Wilson
1925 Romola Wills
1926 Dolly White
1927 Phyllis Yeoman
1928 Kathleen Cooper
1929 Mary Marshall
1930 Winifred Horrell[30]
1931 Brenda Osbourne
1932 May Clarke
1933 Winifred Olding[31]
1934 Nellie Wills[32]
1935 Barbara Weeks[33]
1936 Veronica Yeoman
1937 Eileen Dray[34]
1938 Phyllis Wills[35]
1939 Edna Dray
1940 Rosie Olding
1941 - 1953 No Ceremony
1954 Gillian Williams
1955 Myra Brock
1956 Patricia Powell
1957 Janet Horrell
1958 Helen Beard
1959 Christine Moore
1960 Iona Jones
1961 Jayne Nelson
1962 Jennifer Perry
1963 Ruth Matthews
1964 Carola Woodger
1965 Jacqueline Kennett
1966 Patricia Johnson
1967 Angela Woodger
1968 Vivienne Jenkin
1969 Suzanna Beaumont
1970 Jane Aggett
1971 Wendy Harvey
1972 Julie Germon
1973 Diane Aggett
1974 Caroline Williams
1975 Annette Stephens
1976 Catherine Beaumont
1977 Debbie Seabrook
1978 Heather Wright
1979 Julie Osborne
1980 Susan Aggett
1981 Rebecca French
1982 Jeanette Palmer
1983 Lisa Rowe
1984 Debbie Goodfellow
1985 Sarah Jane Lilley
1986 Carolyn Tapson
1987 Salley Ann Lilley
1988 Rebecca Merriott
1989 Kim Hopwood
1990 Coralie Olver
1991 Abigail Mabey
1992 Katie Jacoby
1993 Simone Olver
1994 Lisa Roberts
1995 Natalie Davis
1996 Rebecca Drewett
1997 Laura Dale
1998 Louise Baudouy[36]
1999 Daisy Beare
2000 Emma Wills
2001 Joely Badger
2002 Harriet Knowles
2003 Lucy James
2004 Annie Reddaway
2005 Chloe May Wright
2006 Anna Bell[37]
2007 Jessica Beare
2008 Alice James
2009 Kirsty Heather
2010 Bryony Bell
2011 Lauren Heather
2012 Celia Coleman
2013 Abigail Pelling
2014 Harmony Bidder
2015 Abigail Carroll
2016 Talia Sullivan
2017 Amy Jaggs[38]
2018 Maisie Roper Melland
2019 Keevie Oaff
2020 Imogen Woodcock[39]
2021 Isla McCabe[39]
2022 Arabella Kennaird-Melling[39]
2023 Aurelia Fanshawe[40]
2024 Bridie Gregson[41]
2025 Eve Rose Whitehead[42]
2026 Holly Skilton[43]

References

  1. Viccars, Sue (2008). Devon and Cornwall with your family. p. 85.
  2. Schofield, Bernard (1981). Events in Britain. p. 40. ISBN 0713712309.
  3. "Lustleigh May Day - A History". The Lustleigh Society.
  4. Groom, Nick (2013). The seasons:an elegy for the passing of the year.
  5. "Lustleigh". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 8 May 1914.
  6. Torr, Cecil (1918). Small Talk at Wreyland. Volume I. Cambridge University Press.
  7. "Lustleigh". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 28 April 1939.
  8. "Lustleigh". Western Times. 9 May 1924.
  9. "Lustleigh May Day". Torquay Times. 25 April 1958.
  10. "Lustleigh Queen in fall, but unhurt". Herald Express. 11 May 1959. p. 8.
  11. "May Queen Stone (new)". Tors of Dartmoor. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  12. "Rain did not depress them". Torbay Express. 5 May 1969.
  13. Lustleigh May Day 2020. Luminance Media.
  14. "Granite Boulder as May Queen's Throne". Western Times. 5 May 1933.
  15. "Long Tor". Tors of Dartmoor. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  16. Torr, Cecil. Wreyland Documents.
  17. "Parish boundaries". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 19 July 1929.
  18. "Remember the May Queens of Lustleigh?". Herald Express. 3 May 1977.
  19. "Lustleigh, Dartmoor's Prettiest Village". Britain Express.
  20. Parkman, Chloe (23 August 2022). "19 Devon villages and towns so pretty you'll want to move there immediately". Devon Live.
  21. "May Day marked in a number of ways". Mid Devon Advertiser. 14 May 2006.
  22. "Around Lustleigh Cleave". The AA.
  23. "May Day Festivities at Lustleigh". The Devon and Exeter Gazette. 3 May 1907.
  24. "May Day at Lustleigh". The Western Times. 8 May 1908.
  25. "May Queen Crowned at Lustleigh". The Western Times. 7 May 1909. p. 11.
  26. "May Queen Choosing at Lustleigh". The Western Times. 6 May 1910.
  27. "May Queen Crowned at Lustleigh". The Western Times. 3 May 1912.
  28. "Lustleigh". The Western Times. 17 April 1914.
  29. "Lustleigh's May Queen". The Western Times. 23 May 1919.
  30. "Lustleigh May Queen". The Western Times. 1930-05-09.
  31. "May Queen: Observance of Old Custom in the South-West". Devon and Exeter Gazette.
  32. "May Queens: Lustleigh and Tavistock Ceremonies". The Devon and Exeter Gazette. 8 May 1931.
  33. "May Queen under canopy of flowers". The Western Times. 3 May 1935.
  34. "Lustleigh's Queen of May". Devon and Exeter Gazette. 1937-05-07.
  35. "Queen of the May: Ancient Ritual at Lustleigh". Devon and Exeter Gazette. 1938-05-06.
  36. "Crowning glory!". Herald Express. 7 May 1998.
  37. "May Day marked in variety of ways". Mid-Devon Advertiser. 14 May 2006.
  38. "Lustleigh May Day date". Mid-Devon Advertiser. 1 April 2018.
  39. Heppell, Ethan (15 May 2022). "Lustleigh May Spring Fair picture special". Mid-Devon Advertiser.
  40. Heppell, Ethan (15 May 2023). "Queen Aurelia crowned at this year's May Day festival". Mid-Devon Advertiser.
  41. "Lustleigh May Day". Visit Devon.
  42. "Lustleigh's Magical May Queen". The Moorlander. 2 May 2025.
  43. "Wet weather but high spirits, as Lustleigh celebrates May Day 2026". The Devon Daily. 4 May 2026.