Friday 1st December 1989
Crockerton could be revelling again for the first time in 50 years, if plans to resurrect the village’s medieval festival go ahead.
The Crockerton Revels, which date back to the time of Thomas a Becket, were a regular event until the 1930s.
Now, Warminster historian Danny Howell and Warminster Arts Centre director Shona Powell want to revive them.
Local history has it that Thomas a Becket was on his way to Glastonbury when he stopped off at Crockerton. The Revels were in full swing and the ‘turbulent priest’ had such a good time he never quite got round to going to Glastonbury.
The Crockerton Revels, which went hand-in-hand with the Gooseberry Fayre, were a very popular annual event, bringing music and dancing to the village.
Danny Howell said: “I have been toying with this idea for a long time. It seems to me this is something that could be brought back to the Warminster district calendar as a regular event.”
Shona Powell, who is setting up a folk club at Warminster Arts Centre, said: “I think it sounds like a marvellous idea.”
The pair are hoping enough interest will be generated in the folk club, which starts in February, to support an afternoon of singing and dancing in Crockerton, held on the traditional first Sunday after July 7th.
The folk club will meet every second Sunday for informal singing and established folk groups are already booked to play. In the future Shona hopes to organise a ceilidh.
Anybody interested in the folk club or Crockerton Revels should contact Shona Powell at Warminster Arts Centre, telephone 218519.