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Runnymede Pageant
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- 1934
- By the 1930s, historical pageants were proving very popular in Britian. Pageant sites were usually chosen because of their historical background making Runnymede the perfect location. During the autumn of 1933 Lady Enid de Chair appointed Gwen Lally, Britain's most successful Pageant Master, with the idea of a Runnymede Pageant with the aim of raising money for local charities. There was little more than eight months in which to put together one of the most spectacular pageants of the era. Many of the rumoured 40,000 garments were being made at organised sewing circles. Local sources raised £6000 as a guarantee fund. The Pageant Week, 9-16 June was chosen to coincide with Royal Ascot Race Meeting, thus taking advantage of the additional visitors to the area. By the end of January, eight episodes had been allocated to local districts, involving a total of 5,000 performers.
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- Opening Ceremony
- After months of hard work and rehearsals, the Runnymede Pageant was opened at 2.30pm on Saturaday 9 June by the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Charles Collett, noting in his address that 'In this pageant you have not a kingdom for a stage but an empire'.
The Prologue and the Epilogue were both written by the poet John Drinkwater and formed the only narrative in the entire production. The eight main episodes were all performed in mime to the music of the Band of the Life Guards under Lt. S. S Smith. To ensure that the Prologue could be heard by the entire audience a micriophone was concealed in the chariot carrying the Spirit of the Thames and linked to the Tannoy system, which was considered to be quite an innovation at that time.
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- Episode 1 - The Roman Conquest of Britain AD 44
- The first episode, performed bt the Staines and Ashford group, portrayed what lif might have been like in a small British homestead near the Thames between Staines and Windsor during the Roman Conquest. In AD 43, Emperor Claudis had sent an amry of 40,000 men. They rarely found resistance to their superior weapons which included powerful catapults and often a number of elephants.
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- Episode 2 - The Sacking of Chertsey Abbey ad 884
- The Benedictine abbey of Chertsey han been founded in AD 666 by St Erkenwald. According to the abbey's own chronicler, a Danish fleet sailed up the river Thames in 884 and killed the 90 monks at the abbey for refusing to leave their posts. The abbey itself was badly damaged by fire, its possessions burned and crops destroyed. According to many visitors to the Pageant, this episode was much enjoyed with the drama of the 'burning abbey' and smoke filled arena.
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- Episode 3 - The Sealing of Magna Carta
- The Egham,Wraysbury and Old Windsor group recreated the meeting between King John and the 25 barons that had taken place on the same meadow 719 years earlier. Some of those taking part claimed to be direct descendents from those who attended the orginal ceremony in 1215.
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Mrs Wilkinson, wife of Egham GP, was one the hardest backstage workers. She was appointed assistant property master because of her great skill as a carpenter. She made King John's chair and dais for the Magna Carta episode and was referred to by Gwen Lally as the 'lady with the saw'.
Mrs Wilkinson seen here outside her caravan, also took part in the Magna Carta episode.
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- Episode 4 - A Tournament at Windsor Given by King Edward III - 1358
- Tournaments were very popular during the Middle Ages. They not only gave knights the opportunity to prove their skills and advance up the social ladder, but proved to be a great spectacle. On 23 April 1358, to coincide with St. George's Day, Edward III arranged for a most sumptuous feast and tournament to be held at Windsor. His son, Edward the Black Price, was in attendance, having been the victor at Poitiers in France two years earlier. Two of his prisoners, King John of France and his son Philip, were present at the tournament, but, in the manner of the day, were treated as distinguished guests rather than prisoners. The tiltyard was erected and six courses ridden between the seven combatants. These were the earls of Suffolk, Warwick and Salisbury, Lord Stafford and the kings of France and Scotland. The Black Prince as adjudicator, proclaimed the King of France the winner.
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- Episode 5 - A Tudor Entertainment
- The Virginia Water group gave their full attention to one of England's most colourful monarchs King Henry VIII. The episode centred around an extravagant party, given by Henry to impress his guest of honour, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. It began with the Masque of the Proud Horse, where allegorical figures tamed a high-spirited charger representing France (played by Bimbo from the Wentworth Riding School). A musical interlude led a lady of the Court followed. The final scene began a dance known as the Two Twelves. The performers were twelve courtiers dressed in cloth of gold and silver, representing wealth, and twelve ladies wearing gold bonnets, hoods and buskins, representing luxury. The episode concluded with the arrival of a begger maid for whom the lavishly dressed courties deserted their ladies. However their advances were rejected by the beggar maid and king Henry, impressed by this show of loyalty towards him ordered her to be wreathed in garlands from his table.
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A number of clever ideas were used to chande the arena scenery. But perhaps the most amusing, was the 'house on feet'. This model of a Tudor cottage was simply moved by the eight men inside it, by lifting it up and walking to and from its position in the arena.
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- Episode 6 - King Charles II Hunting in the Royal Forest - 1670
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At this period, shortly after the Restoration, the boundaries of the Royal Forest extended beyond Bagshot. Swinley Forest was an integal part of Windsor Forest, and the nearby villages were mere hamlets within the forest. The sixth episode was performed by the Camberley group and began with King Charles II being greeted by Sunninghill villagers prior to a hunt in Windsor Forest. Upon the signal for the start of the hunt to begin, the king and his courties mounted their horses and the calalcade streamed across the arena and departed. The area was notorious for cut-throats and highwaymen. The well-known highwayman Claude Duval, was featured in this episode. He was a Frenchman who frequently invited pretty female travellers to join him in a dance in exchange for the safe return of their belongings. He lived near Green Lanes Farm in Windlesham before being caught and hanged in 1670.
The episode concluded happily, when the king's hunting party returned successfully carrying a buck slung between two poles. Their celebrations lasted well into the evening.
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- Episode 7 - Queen Anne Opens Ascot Races - 1711
- The first horse race to be held on Ascot Common was Her Majesty's Plate for 100 guineas. August 11th saw seven horses, no more than six years old and carring 12st compete for the prize. No record of the winner is aviable. The photograph (left) shows members of the Ascot group entering the arena with Queen Anne riding in a sedan chair. Some of the stands can be seen in the background. Above the stand a small "crow's nest" is where Gwen Lally (Pageant Master) spent the entire performances often shouting her instructions to the performers through a megaphone.
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- Episode 8 - Rural England After Waterloo - 1817
- The final episode of the Runnymede Pageant was a scene from rural England in1817 shortly after Battle of Waterloo and took the from of a village fair. Popular attractions included a Punch and Judy show, a number of strolling player with their fit-up theatre, timblers and pedlars. During the episode, performed by the Slogh and District group, the Duke of Wellington made a suprise visit on his way yo the State Opening of Waterloo Bridge.
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- The Grand Finale
- Each performance of the Pageant concluded with an Epilogue, read with the entire company assembled in the arena. It provided a spectacular end to a magnificent show, each performance lasting, on average, three hours. Despite the huge success of the Runnymede Pageant, there was a sad outcome. The Treasury informed the organisers that the full amount of Entertainment Tax would have to be paid because the expenses exceeded 20% of the gross takings. The costs involved in the hiring of horses and costumes, together with the erection of stands etc. far exceeded the estimated costs and instead of making a sizable profit for local charities, the Pageant lost about £300.
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