Harvest Festival
Harvest Festival is one of the oldest known festivals in the UK and it is traditionally held on or near the Sunday of the Harvest Moon. This moon is the full moon around the time of the Autumn Equinox in September.

The celebration of Harvest in Britain dates back to pre-Christian times when the success of the crop governed the lives of the people. Saxon farmers offered the first cut sheaf of corn to one of their gods of fertility, in order to safeguard a good harvest the following year.

The last sheaf was thought to contain the Spirit of the Corn, and its cutting was usually accompanied by the ritual sacrifice of an animal - often a hare caught hiding in the corn. Later, a model hare made from straw was used to represent the continuity of the Spirit. This practice eventually led to the making of plaited 'corn dollies', symbolising the goddess of the grain. These were hung from the rafters in farmhouses until the next year. When the harvest was in, a celebratory supper was held to which the whole community was invited.

These traditions continued after christianity arrived in Britain, sometimes in a slightly different form, and there were ceremonies and rituals at the beginning as well as the end of the harvest and church bells were rung on every day of the harvest. A corn dolly was made from the last sheaf of corn harvested - a figure made of plaited straw, which was held aloft and carried with great ceremony to the celebrations - and it often had a place of honour at the banquet table, and was kept until the following spring. The horse bringing the last cart load was decorated with garlands of flowers and colourful ribbons. A magnificent harvest feast was held at the farmer's house and games played to celebrate the end of the harvest.

The tradition of celebrating Harvest Festival in churches began in 1843, when the Reverend Robert Hawker invited parishioners to a special thanksgiving service at his church at Morwenstow in Cornwall. This led to the custom of decorating churches with home-grown produce for the Harvest Festival service.

The traditional ways of celebrating the harvest still survive today in rural communities. Nowadays, children also take gifts of fruit and vegetables to church and present them during the harvest service whilst the harvest hymn 'We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand' is sung. After the service, these gifts are distributed to the elderly and needy of the community. Many schools also have a Harvest Festival assembly and the gifts of fruit and vegetables are distributed in the local community.

We Plough the Fields and Scatter
Words by Matthias Claudius (1740-1815)
Play midi file

We plough the fields and scatter
The good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered
By God's almighty hand:
He sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine,
And soft, refreshing rain.

Refrain:
All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord,
O thank the Lord,
For all his love.

He only is the maker
Of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower,
He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey him,
By him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, his children,
He gives our daily bread.

We thank thee then, O Father,
For all things bright and good,
The seed time and the harvest,
Our life, our health, our food.
Accept the gifts we offer
For all thy love imparts,
And what thou most desirest,
Our humble, thankful hearts.

Refrain