Medieval Traditions
While not a Hoppers Tale, this article tells the story of our trip to Alnwick for the Shrove Tuesday medieval football game.
This is a traditional ball game that has been played in the Northumberland town since at least 1762.
That was the first recorded game, though it is believed that the event is much older. It is also rumoured that the first ‘ball’ was actually a Scotsman’s head.
Thankfully, times have moved on!
Besides Alnwick, there are other Shrovetide ball games played within the UK, so let’s start by taking a look at them.
Other Ball Games in England:
Ashbourne
I come from Uttoxeter, and just 12 miles northeast, there is a Shrovetide ball game in the town of Ashbourne.
Though I have never been to watch it in person, I have heard many stories about the game from friends and workmates.
The Royal Shrovetide Football, known locally as ‘hugball’, rules state:
- Committing murder or manslaughter is prohibited.
- Unnecessary violence is frowned upon.
- The ball may not be carried in a motorised vehicle.
- The ball may not be hidden in a bag, coat or rucksack, etc.
- Cemeteries, churchyards and the town memorial gardens are strictly out of bounds.
- Playing after 10 pm is forbidden.
- To score a goal, the ball must be tapped three times in the area of the goal.
Fair play, at least murder is forbidden!
The game is contested over two days between the Up’ards (people born north of the River Henmore) and the Down’ards (people born south of the river).
The goals are stone markers in the river, over 2 miles apart at Sturston and Clifton.
The Ashbourne game is played hard but is somewhat tamer than the Atherstone version, which puts the ‘War’ into Warwickshire.
Atherstone
The Atherstone Ball Game is over 800 years old, and often goes viral on social media for the brutality on display.
Police stand idly by while fights that would normally result in criminal convictions are laughed off as a boisterous part of the game.
Indeed, this year’s event had a fight before the ball had even entered play!
The Atherstone Ball Game has even fewer rules than the Ashbourne game.
They both agree that killing people is perhaps ‘unsporting’, and Atherstone’s rules also state that the ball must stay on Long Street, which is roughly 0.6 miles long.
The object of the game is to be the person holding the ball when ‘play’ ends at 5 pm.
For me, personally, the object of the game would be to stay well clear of the ball!
St. Columb Major and St. Ives
The Cornish ball game is based on hurling and involves forcing the ball across the parish boundary (approximately two miles from the centre) to win.
As you can see, the game is smaller than both Ashbourne and Atherstone, and seems to be played in good spirits.
Though that doesn’t mean it isn’t played hard!
Sedgefield
The Sedgefield Ball Game is more akin to football, though there are plenty of scrums and wrestling involved (and the occasional scuffle, of course).
The tradition of this particular ball game goes back over 700 years, and the completion of St Edmund’s Church in the 13th century, when builders challenged locals to a game of ‘football’.
Nowadays, there are no teams and few rules, with the ball being thrown and kicked around the town centre, and beyond.
To begin the game, the ball is passed three times through the bull ring in Sedgefield’s marketplace before being tossed to the crowd.
Kicking off at 1 pm, the ball has to be ‘allied’ in the beck, south of the town, though this can’t be done before 4 pm. It is down by the beck that things can often get a little feistier, as the prize gets closer.
Once the ball has been allied, the winner passes the ball through the bull ring three times
Traditionally, the first person to take the ball into a local pub receives a free drink.
Alnwick
Of course, the focus for us this Shrovetide was ‘Scoring of the Hales’ game in Alnwick, Northumberland.
This game has been played since 1762 and takes place in the shadow of Alnwick Castle.
In fact, forget Quidditch, Scoring of the Hales should have been Hogwarts’ main sport!
Once, this game took place in the town centre, but the people of Alnwick moved it to The Pastures in the 1820s.
This is a stretch of land on the other side of the River Aln, beneath the castle and its hill. Often boggy and marshy, this soon becomes ‘muddyeval’ football. Sorry, not sorry.
The field is roughly a furlong (220 yards) square, and teams are made up of players from St. Michael’s Parish and St. Paul’s Parish in the town.
Hales are arches decorated with greenery, and the aim is to kick the ball into them to score a ‘goal’. The first team to score two ‘hales’ is declared the winner.
That isn’t the end of the fun, though, with the ball thrown into the river after the game. The individual who brings it out on the other side gets to keep the ball and the bragging rights.
Alnwick Before the game
Alnwick is a lovely market town in rural Northumberland, 33 miles north of Newcastle Upon Tyne and 29 miles southeast of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
At the 2021 census, it had a population of 8,681, up from 8,036 in 2011 and is traditionally the county town of Northumberland.
Alnwick dates back to around 600 AD and takes its name from the River Aln and the Old English word ‘wic‘, meaning (in this case) dairy farm.
Agriculture was the town’s main industry, though a castle built in 1096 also made it a strategic place during war and turmoil. The castle became the home of the powerful Percy family of Northumberland in the early 14th century.
Alnwick Garden is almost as famous as Alnwick Castle itself, with the famed poisonous plants that are a part of it attracting tourists. The famous landscape architect Capability Brown designed Alnwick Gardens.
The castle’s fame grew worldwide after the filming of the first two Harry Potter movies took place there. It’s where Harry took his first flying and Quidditch lessons.
Today, tourism plays a big part in Alnwick’s economy, partly thanks to the Harry Potter connection, but even without Potter, this town has much to offer visitors.
The Game
Scoring the Hales begins at 2 pm, with the ceremonial tossing of the ball from the castle walls by the Duke of Northumberland (or a representative).
The ball is then carried down over the Lion Bridge to The Pastures, accompanied by the duke’s piper. Though disappointingly, the ‘piper’ didn’t seem to be playing the instrument himself, but electronically.
Once in position (and already muddy), the game’s rules are read out over a microphone to the spectators and contestants.
A handy copy of which I photographed in The Fleece Inn beforehand.
The game itself was much tamer than the versions listed above, and almost resembled an actual game of football, like the ones you would play with all your mates on a muddy field as a kid.
Comical slipping and sliding, including awesome slide tackles, were a large part of the game’s entertainment.
It was good to see many children involved in the teams, too, which helps ensure the tradition’s continuation.
It was a one-sided game, with St. Paul’s dominating and scoring two uncontested hales. I managed to catch the first one in the following video, among all the related carnage.
Of course, even with the game over, there was still another prize to contest.
Who will take home the match ball?
That honour is decided by throwing the ball into the River Aln, where contestants jump in after it. The winner is the person who carries the ball onto the far bank.
Bear in mind, this is the Northeast of England, in February! It had been snowing briefly before the game. It takes a brave soul to dive into a river in those temperatures.
Let’s see how it went, shall we?
Pubs
Refreshingly, in a climate of closing pubs, Alnwick has a thriving pub scene. We visited two of the establishments on offer, The Fleece Inn and the Tanners Arms.
Both were excellent watering holes, should you ever find yourself in the town.
The Tanners Arms even has a tree in it! I’ve never examined it, so I can’t tell you whether it’s fake or real, but it looks great either way.
Lunch came by the way of Carlo’s chip shop on Market Street. Though not cheap, it was good quality, so no complaints from Mrs Hopper or me.
All in all, a great day was had, and Alnwick’s tradition survives another year.
If you are ever in the area, I’d recommend a visit. If you’ve never been, why not? Northumberland is a beautiful part of the country with many awesome places to visit.
Get yourself up here, and why not take in a little Shrovetide footy while you are at it?
Scotland also hosts Shrovetide ball games, or ba’ games, including places like Jedburgh and Kirkwall on the Orkneys.
Though there is less information available online about these.
Wherever it takes place, the passion for the tradition is ingrained in the locals, and long may that continue!