Chester Pageant



The Edwardian period (1901-10) is sometimes portrayed as a romantic golden age of long summer afternoons and garden parties, basking in a sun that never sets on the British Empire. Certainly, the era stands out as a time of peace and prosperity on the eve of the carnage of WW1 and the economic downturn which followed. There were no severe depressions, and prosperity was widespread although the city retained many of the slum coursts of Victorian Chester. Britain's growth rate, manufacturing output and GDP (but not GDP per capita) fell behind its rivals, the United States and Germany, but the nation still led the world in trade, finance and shipping, and had strong bases in manufacturing and mining. This view seems to to maintained in much popular fiction which portrays the characters in an age of post-Victorian innocence and liberation then dooms them to either drowning on the Titanic or death in the trenches.

In 1910 entertainment for the masses was quite different to that of modern times. The radio broadcasting of music and talk intended to reach a dispersed audience started experimentally around 1905–1906, but commercially only around 1920 to 1923. In England, the first experimental music broadcasts, from Marconi's factory in Chelmsford, began in 1920. Shortly before, there had been commercial broadcasts in Europe from Germany, where it was still an offence to recieve them under the Treaty of Versailles. The first permanent cinema in Chester, with 400 seats, had opened in 1909 (initially the "Corn Exchange Cinema", then the "Picturedrome") in Eastgate Street. The Royal Agricultural Show had been held in Hoole, from 17 – 23 June 1893 (and would return in 1925).

The late Victorian and Edwardian times saw great change, with new technology, vast new imperial territories, the percieved "democratisation" of the political system and a further dominance of the urban culture over the rural. At the fin de siecle, and later, a vision of a pre-industrial "Merrie England" flourished, finding one expression in Chester in the Vernacular Revival "Black and White" architecture. In Edwardian times, pageants became an important aspect of popular engagement with the past, and often focused heavily on the medieval period. Pageans became so commonplace as to give rise to the phrase "pageant fever" and the term "pageantitis". The pageants featured different episodes and characters both historical and legendary, including Alfred the Great, King John and Robin Hood, who featured at different times and in different ways during the twentieth century. Some modern historians have raged against the innaccuracy of some of the pageant portrayals, but on the other hand perhaps a distorted view of history is better than none.

The Edwardian pageant movement is usually dated to 1905, when the playwright and theatrical impresario Louis Napoleon Parker organised and produced a community celebration in Sherborne, Dorset, to celebrate the 1,200th anniversary of the foundation of the town. As noted in: "History taught in the pageant way"


 * "Insofar as one can describe a typical English pageant from this time, it began with an episode depicting Roman times or the early medieval period, contained plenty of medieval scenes and concluded with something set in the age of the Tudors or Stuarts. Elizabeth I, the most widespread single character in historical pageants, often closed the performance: according to many pageant narratives, it was during her reign that the modern English nation had come into being. Thus many pageants culminated in scenes of Elizabethan merry-making, featuring maypoles and morris dancing."

Many communities saw their origins as being medieval, and almost all found important stories to tell from this period. However, the emphasis shifted over time, with the lessons of the "constitutional Middle Ages" featuring prominently in Edwardian pageants, whereas by the 1950s elements of the romantic and grotesque were increasingly prominent. Throughout the twentieth century, aspects of civic medievalism were an important feature in pageants. This article looks at the Chester Pageant of 1910 which straddles the boundary of fact and fiction and provides an example of how hystory was understood and myths are created.

Described by The Times as "one of the most spirited that pageantry has produced", the Chester Historical Pageant of 1910 took place in Eaton Park, the estate of the Grosvenors, between 18 and 24 July, 1910. A reported 3,000 performers were involved, although some estimates put the number at 3,500, and over 70,000 spectators attended - a considerable achievement for a city of then only 50,000. The choice of year was interesting, because 300 years earlier, in 1610, Chester had seen the performance of "Chester's Triumph in honour of her Prince" as recorded in Chamber's Book of days - a familiar book in Edwardian times. The pageants seem to have been an Edwardian innovation, some 40 major pageants took place in the years 1900-10. In three cases Cheltenham (1908), Cardiff (1909) and Chester the "Master of the Pageant" was George Hawtrey, indicating the degree of infrastructure which had evolved for the organisation of pageants.

There was a clear commercial aspect to these pageants. Chester Archives hold a copy of the contract drawn up between the Pageant and Edward Baring, which appointed Baring as 'Director of the Pageant and Business Manager'. Baring was paid:


 * "ten per cent of the gross receipts (other than from subscriptions and guarantees)... from all sources whether from the production of the said Pageant and from any Entertainments and other Functions held in connection therewith... also from the sale of effects after the Pageant when those sales have been made through the agency of the said Edward Baring".

In addition he received 'out-of-pocket expenses' and his staff were housed for all 'office-work' at 'Pageant-House' in the city.

Public Performance at Chester
The study of public performance contributes to many areas of Historiography. The best known "public theatre" at Chester is the Chester Mystery Plays, which are covered elsewhere on this site and have a vast literature associated with them. Once it was considered that the medieval mystery plays were "the popish progeny of ancient heathen theatre and full of ungodly errors and superstition" - "a Bastard of Babylon" - buffoonery far inferior to the Elizabethan theatre of Shakespeare. Later it was realised that pre-Reformation early English theatre needed to be re-interpreted as sometimes self-disparaging art which sought to disguise itself for the sake of its own preservation and that there was not a major gulf between the Medieval and the Renaisance. With renewed interest in the plays in the late 19th and 20th Centuries, and especially performance of the plays themselves, scholarship in the area blossomed. The Mystery Plays were effectively banned in 1575, but revived in the 20th Century. A new interest in the performance of medieval plays was stimulated by William Poel's production of Everyman at the Charterhouse in London in 1901; it was paired with a production of Chester's Sacrifice of Isaac, the first performance of a Chester play in modern times. One of Poel's company, Walter Nugent Monck, formed his own company and staged versions of Chester's Nativity, Shepherds, and Magi plays in Bloomsbury Hall, London, in 1906. Monck wrote to the Chester Archaeological Society offering to produce the whole cycle in the traditional manner over three days at Whitsun 1907. The proposal, which must be seen against the background of Chester's music festivals and the city's growing concern with its past, would have resulted in the first complete revival of any English play-cycle. The Society organized a public meeting chaired by the bishop to discuss it. Although the dean of Chester opposed the production, the cathedral organist, Joseph Cox Bridge, supported it, and a number of Cestrians who had seen Everyman in London or on tour reported favourably on the production. Following the meeting, the three 'Nativity' plays were performed at the Chester Music Hall on 29th November 1906 to test local reactions. An edition of the performance-text by Bridge was published to accompany the production. The production was enthusiastically received by most (as reported in the The Chester Courant and Advertiser for North Wales), although there were some objections - notably by the Dean John Lionel Darby. But the society then decided that the cost of staging the full cycle was too high and the scheme fell-though.

Chambers' coverage of the Chester Mystery Plays is quite interesting, if not always accurate. He touches briefly on the well-known plays but then turns to discuss in detail the much lesser known "Chester's Triumph in Honour of her Prince", which is possibly best described as a "unique work", beginning with an actor climbing the spire of St Peter and doing a handstand at the summit. This was played in 1610, in honour of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales who was the eldest son of James VI and I, King of England and Scotland, and his wife Anne of Denmark. Henry was not present for the performance - he was at his residence at Richmond on St Georges Day (23rd April) 1610 when the triumph was performed. On the 4th June 1610 Henry took part in a lavish ceremony which celebrated his coming of age and creation as Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.

Another noted "pageant" at Chester was the 1536 "Triumph" of "Queen Dido" as performed in the mayorality of Sir Lawrence Smith. It is one of several public performances noted by Hemingway:


 * "There were besides these scripture dramas, others of a profane character which were acted occasionally on special occasions. The Shepherd's Play was acted in St John's church yard in 1515; in 1529 the play of Robert Cicell was performed at the High Cross; on the Sunday after Midsummer day 1563, the "History of Eneas and queen Dido" was played on the Rood eye, set out by one William Crofton, gentleman, and one Mr Mann, Master of Arts. In l577, the "Shepherd's Play" was performed before the Earl of Derby at the High cross, and other triumphs on the Rood eye. And in 1589, a play was performed at the High cross, called the story of "Kinge Ebranke with all his sonnes."

Hemmingway's seemingly amusing reference to Robert Cecil is actually probably intended to refer to "Robert of Sicily". Ormerod contains essentially the same information, which he lifts directly from Magna Brittanica by Daniel and Samuel Lysons.

"Triumphs", such as the "History of Eneas and queen Dido" were large, spectacular events in which the visual impact was more important than the text. Triumphs on the Roodee were among the entertainments seen by Henry Stanley, earl of Derby, in 1577. There is little surviving information on the 1563 Triumph, but it appears to have been as spectacular as would be expected. As, with one exception, no payments for it are recorded in the Chester corporation or guild records, mayor's book, etc. it may be assumed that it was privately funded. The exception is in the City Treasurers accounts for 1563/4 (ZTAR 1/11) where there is an "item paid master mayre at midsomer for the trivmthe: 26s and 8p". There is an associated note of 14s being spent on gunpowder.

In Medieval and Tudor times, Chester’s magnificent Midsummer Watch Parade was renowned throughout the country. First held during the mayoralty of Richard Goodman in 1498, it was organised by the City Guilds and took place in the years when the famous Chester Mystery Plays were not performed. The outstanding features of the show were the Giants – enormous structures made of buckram and pasteboard and carried by two or more men. Giants were a common feature of Tudor pageantry in England and Europe, but Chester was unique in that the city paraded a whole family of Giants – the Father, the Mother and two Daughters. There were also fantastic giant Beasts including the Unicorn, the Elephant, the Camel and the Dragon. Originally the Dragon was beaten by six naked boys, but this practice was banned in the late 16th century. The Midsummer show seems to have originated 1498-9 when Chester was visited by Prince Arthur visited the city with his page Thomas Cowper, although the visit was apparently from August 1498 until September of the same year. Thomas Cowper was Page of Honour to Prince Arthur (19/20 September 1486 – 2 April 1502), Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester and Duke of Cornwall. As the eldest son and heir apparent of Henry VII of England, Arthur was viewed by contemporaries as the great hope of the newly established House of Tudor. His mother, Elizabeth of York, was the daughter of Edward IV, and his birth cemented the union between the House of Tudor and the House of York. The Midsummer Watch Parade survived much longer than the now world-famous Mystery Plays, which were banned in 1575 and not revived until recent times. In 1599, Mayor Henry Hardware prohibited the Parade and ordered the Giants to be broken up. However, so popular was the show that it was revived the next year and continued until the 1670s. The Midsummer Watch Parade was revived in the 1990's, with the first new giant was taken for a walk through the streets of Chester at midsummer 1989. A second giant was made at Lache Junior School, a unicorn at Lache Adventure Playground and a Dragon at NACRO New Careers Training in 1990. The parade at midsummer that year was the first for over 300 years. The Winter Watch Parade was re-created by the Council in the 1990’s.

The "Episodes"
The pageant illustrated the history of Chester with a series of eight historical "re-enactments" of events concerning the city. All of these have a "proessional character" with characters making an entrance. In some cases this required a little re-writing of history to provide elements of drama. Pageants were usually one-off events: they may have been staged several times over the course of their run, but it was rare for them to become annual, or even regular, events. However, their legacies were significant, both for communities and individuals. As in other cases the Chester Pageant brought the community together behind performed fabrications of the local past and its folk traditions, linked to wider national narratives. The choice of which elements of history are selected for portrayal, as in the case of the sculptures at the Town Hall in Chester, says much about how a community perceives itself.

The Prologue
The pageant opened with the entrance of "Chester", in an allegorical sense. The character was played by Cecil T. Parker, the Duke of Westminster's agent (and his nephew). Parker had a prominent role in the Agricultural Show held at Chester and history provides a mixed picture of him. He seems a tireless worker, but managed to get on the wrong side of John Douglas with whom her diagreed with over the construction of "Parker's Buildings" on Foregate Street. Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster supported the pageant, although it was not a happy time for him: his only son, Edward, died aged 4 in 1909. There was another notable death just before the pageant - that of king Edward VII on the 6th May 1910. As Barbara Tuchman noted of King Edward in "The Guns of August", his funeral, held on 20 May 1910, marked "the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last."

Agricola Returns to Deva After Defeating the Ordovices, AD 78
Arriving in midsummer of 77, Agricola discovered that the Ordovices of north Wales had virtually destroyed the Roman cavalry stationed in their territory. He immediately moved against them and defeated them. His campaign then moved onto Anglesey where he subjugated the entire island. Almost two decades earlier, Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus had attempted the same but Roman forces had to withdraw in 60CE because of the outbreak of the Boudican rebellion.

Performance Art in Chester

 * Chester Mystery Plays;
 * Queen Dido;
 * Chamber's Book of days;
 * Shakespeare and Chester;
 * Midsummer Watch Parade;
 * Minstrel Court;

The Episodes

 * Timeline for Chester;
 * River Dee;
 * Roman Chester;
 * Edgar's Field;
 * Hugh of Avranches and the Cathedral
 * Gerald of Wales and Bishop Baldwin;
 * Richard II and the story of his Royal Treasure;
 * Charles II and the Civil War;

Online

 * Chester Historical Pageant;
 * Joe Smoe's excellent history;
 * Chester Pageant 1910.: Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society 17. Vol 17, pp. 107-119
 * The Music of the 1910 Chester Historical Pageant;
 * "History taught in the pageant way": education and historical performance in twentieth-century Britain;

Others

 * Historical Pageants and the Medieval Past in Twentieth-Century England: The English Historical Review, Volume 133, Issue 563, August 2018;
 * The Place of the Past in English Culture c. 1890-1914: Past & Present, No. 186 (Feb., 2005),
 * The Pageant of History: Staging the Local Past, 1905–39: from "Filming and Performing Renaissance History";