Parish Events in May

May is full of festivals this year as we move through Ascension, Rogation, Whitsunday, Trinity Sunday and Oak Apple Day in the course of the month. You'll find full details of what is happening when and where in this email; you're warmly invited to join in what is always a joyful season of events!

St Giles Society | 13 May at 7pm | Mary L Shannon

The next gathering of the St Giles Society will welcome author and historian Mary L Shannon to discuss her exploration of the life of Billy Waters, "King of the Beggars" and a noted figure in the history of the St Giles Rookery. Likely born into enslavement in 1770s New York, he became a Royal Navy sailor. After losing his leg in a fall from the rigging, the talented and irrepressible Waters became London’s most famous street performer whose life reveals fascinating glimpses of the hidden history of Regency London.

Mary L. Shannon’s biography draws together surviving traces of Waters’ life, considering his influence on the London stage and his echoing resonances in visual art, and in writing by Douglass, Dickens, and Thackeray. Tickets are £5 on the door.

Ascension Day Evensong & Curry Supper | 14th May at 6.30pm

We will mark Ascension Day on 14 May with a service of Choral Evensong led by the combined forces of the the St Giles Choir and the UCL Chamber Choir and we will welcome guest preacher the Reverend Dominic Holroyd, padre to the Light Dragoons.

After the service, everyone is warmly invited to the Vestry House for a curry supper catered by the Punjab restaurant. If you would like to stay for supper, please RSVP to the Rector.

Rogation Sunday | 17th May at 11am

Following the morning service on Sunday 17th May, the Churchwardens will lead the traditional walk of the parish boundaries known as "Beating the Bounds". As those of you who have attended in the past will know, this is a wonderful moment of Christian witness in the West End that helps to maintain our links with the people who live and visit this area. 

Oak Apple Day | 31st May

As is the tradition, we will again be commemorating Oak Apple Day this year, marking the anniversary of the Restoration in 1660 and to honour the memory of Richard Penderel, ‘The Kings Deliverer’, who is buried & memorialised in the churchyard of St Giles-in-the-Fields.

During Holy Communion a sermon will be given on the theme of Church and Crown and following the service Richard Penderel’s tomb and memorial stone in St Giles Churchyard will be garlanded with Oak leaves.