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THE QUENDON WILLIAM WINSTANLEY CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL
This festival (to be held at Quendon Church on 29th
November, 2008) was inspired by Alison Barnes’s biography of the famous Quendon
writer and poet William Winstanley (1628-98), entitled “William Winstanley; the
Man who Saved Christmas”, which came out last November.
The book shows how William saved our Christmas customs for us after the Puritans had banned them for thirteen years and they had almost died out, describes all the Winstanleys’ own wonderful Yuletide merrymaking at their fine Tudor farmhouse in Quendon called Berries, and proves that the so-called Dickensian ideal English Christmas stems from William and his multitudinous heartwarming Christmas writings.
William was the uncle and best friend of Henry Winstanley of
Saffron Walden and Littlebury, the etcher, inventor and architect who built the
first Eddystone lighthouse off
November, selling local produce, Christmas gifts, Christmas cards, Christmas
decorations, candles, toys, sweets and cakes. There will be games to play and
other activities as well. Many of the stalls and activities will have a
seventeenth century theme.
In the evening at the Church at 7 o’clock there will be a
short talk by Alison Barnes delivered by Carolyn Wingfield, Curator of Saffron
Walden Museum, containing much quite new information about Henry and William.
There will also be poetry readings, singing and music.
All proceeds from the festival go towards the upkeep of Quendon and Rickling parish churches. William was Churchwarden of Quendon between 1670 and 1698, and dearly loved the church.
Saturday 28 March 2009 all
day