Wassailing service

Name: Wassailing service
Start: 2025-01-05T18:30:00+00:00
Location: St Catherine's Church, Birtles Lane, Over Alderley, Macclesfield

Schedule

Sun Jan 05 2025 at 06:30 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

St Catherine's Church, Birtles Lane, Over Alderley, Macclesfield | Macclesfield, EN

A date for your diary; more info to follow 😊
“Wassail” comes from an Anglo-Saxon word that means “good health”, and, over the centuries, both apple trees and people have been wassailed on Twelfth Night.
The celebrations begin with food and drink (mulled cider). There follows a procession to an orchard, where the oldest apple tree is laden with Christmas decorations and lights. Toast dipped in cider is hung on the branches and cider is poured around its roots. The toast attracts robins, which gorge themselves on the bugs that may infect both tree and fruit. The tree is “wassailed” with a song, to ensure a healthy crop.
(Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik)