Farnham's Great Pageant

'the best entertainment ever given in Farnham’

Something akin to ‘Pageant mania’ swept Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century. From about 1905 onwards communities across England, Scotland and Wales staged theatrical re-enactments of events from local and national history that involved large sections of the population as performers, organisers and spectators. 

August 2025, marks 115 years since Farnham staged its very own, highly successful pageant entitled  “Farnham Historical Episodes”  This was the first of many pageants devised by Neville Lovett, rector of Farnham and future Bishop of Salisbury and Portsmouth. 

Scenes included

300 local townspeople took part, depicting scenes from the history of the Castle starting with Henri of Blois in 1147 through to the arrival of Bishop Sumner in 1828.  For The Farnham Herald there were two scenes of particular note. The first one had ‘evil’ King John, being outwitted by the then Bishop of Winchester, Peter des Roches, by persuading him to grant Farnham a town charter, which reduced the taxes paid by the good people of Farnham, allowing trade to flourish (see above image). According to the newspaper this episode was ‘without hesitation…the best entertainment ever given in Farnham’. 

The final scene in the pageant also drew praise for its depiction of the clash of political ideas between the more reactionary Bishop Sumner who had voted against the 1832 Great Reform Act and the radicalism of Farnham's most famous son, William Cobbett, who advocated an expansion of the franchise and a more representative House of Commons.

Other scenes include the arrival of Prince Arthur,  infant son of Henry VII who spent his first 7 years at the Castle, under the care of Blind Bishop Fox.

Prince Arthur, eldest son and heir of Henry VII, spent his own early years at Farnham Castle

Cardinal Wolsey, as Bishop of Winchester, also put in a brief appearance, before being summoned to his execution by Henry VIII. Elizabeth l featured in two scenes; in one she is discussing finding a suitable husband, and in the second victory, over the Spanish Armada, celebrated by a service of thanksgiving, conducted by the bishop.

The Bishop of Winchester offers thanksgiving for success in defeating the Spanish Armada

The Castle was in parliamentary hands throughout the English Civil War, but nevertheless, Charles l put in an appearance, as he did in reality, as a guest of Sir Henry Vernon, who offers him a place to stay in December 1648, when the Castle refused to lodge him, en route to his execution in London a month later. 

Raison d'être

The Farnham Pageant was performed 5 times over the first weekend in August, culminating in a huge torchlit procession down Castle Street to Church House on Union Road. It raised £300 which went towards paying off the remaining £800 debt on the construction of Church House, whose idea  had also been the brainchild of Neville Lovett, and why he presumably felt an obligation to find the remaining funds. Church House was opened in November 1909 by the Duchess of Albany, sister-in-law of King Edward VII. 

Church House c1909

Legacy

Farnham’s pageant differed from ones held in other parts of the country, Bath and Winchester, for example, because it did not seek to exaggerate the importance of the town. Instead, it avoided Edwardian hyperbole in favour of an emphasis on more local characteristics, but and proved to be a model for other town pageants, following WW1. 

Evidence of the success of the 1910 pageant is the fact that others took place in Farnham, in 1930, 1950 and 1988, but it was the one in 1910 which set the benchmark. Dr Ealand, who played Henry de Blois, looked forward to ‘the year 2010, when he dared to conjecture that Farnham had the pluck to again put ‘Historical Episodes’ before the people—and they mustn’t expect to do it before that, because they could not expect to find a Rector of Farnham equal to theirs within 100 years!’. He suggested that the eleventh episode would depict Lovett and a recreation of early twentieth century society ‘in order that their successors might know what justice they of Farnham in the year 1910 could do to good old 1–3 August 1910’. Praise indeed! 

Name of pageant master and other named staff

Pageant Master: Lovett, Neville

Musical Director: Percy R. Rowe

Assistant: W.T. Coleman

Secretaries: L.H. Poole and A.H. Combs

Costumes: Maud Bodkin; Miss Thirkell

Property: R. and R.C. Sampson

Gardener: H. Downing

Stewards Assisting: A.H. Stevens; C.E. Moore;

E. Jackson; G. Murrell

Box Office: A.R. Patrick and J. Lamport