We need your support to keep our doors open to visitors, and maintain our historic building and museum collections. Click here to donate.

Learn more

Whit Monday Celebrations

by | 5th May 2023

Return to news archive
An old black and white photo showing a large crowd gathered in Lowman Green for the unveiling of the Edward the Peacemaker statue, a statue of Edward VII

Whit Monday Celebrations

May was a time for celebration in local villages. Events were being planned for Whit Monday which was on May 21st in 1923 or Empire Day which was the Thursday of the same week. The adverts for these events appeared in the Gazette in early May.

A cutting from an old newspaper advertising Whit-Monday celebrations in Bampton

All three had a wide range of sports and competitions for humans and animals alike. One intriguing race at Bampton was the Boys’ Ginger Beer and Cake Race! Maypole dancing was also on the agenda.

Cutting from an old newspaper advertising Whit Monday celebrations in Dulverton including their 2nd annual Gymkhana and Sports.

All three events advertised special trains and buses.

Cutting from an old newspaper advertising Helberton's fifth annual Gymkhana and Sports event in 1923

In 1883, various ‘excursions’ were advertised by train for the Whitsun holidays. The poster, currently on display in our Victorian Mid Devon temporary exhibition, gives the details.

Railway poster in a frame

The date of Whit Sunday, a date in the Christian calendar, varies each year as it is always the 7th Sunday after Easter. In 1971, the Bank Holiday was changed and fixed on the last Monday of May.

An old black and white photo showing a large crowd gathered in Lowman Green for the unveiling of the Edward the Peacemaker statue, a statue of Edward VII

Empire Day was first celebrated in 1902 and it was the occasion of much activity in Tiverton on 24 May 1912. It saw the unveiling of the statue of King Edward Vll on Lowman Bridge. It was donated to the town by Thomas Ford and sculpted by the world renowned Exeter master craftsman, Harry Hems. Crowds came to the town and schoolchildren from the town and the villages watched on and were given a silver threepenny bit as a memento. The programme shows that a luncheon was held in honour of Mr Ford before the processions down to the bridge. A service was held during which the statue was unveiled by the Countess of Portsmouth. The celebrations continued with concerts by the Town Band and a Territorial Band.