Paganhill Maypole

Location

Updated 19 July 2010

Erection of the Paganhill Maypole (unknown date)

Photo courtesy of Philip Booth

          Maypole Terrace

The aims and objectives of the Maypole Society are to preserve the tradition of the siting, and the upkeep, of a Maypole in Paganhill.  A Maypole has stood in Paganhill for about 400 years and, to ensure that this tradition is maintained, the Maypole Society is looking to attract new members. 

If you are interested in joining the Society and would like further information, please contact Chair, Sue Sutton, on 01453 763255.

If you are interested in joining the Society and would like to become a Friend of the Maypole Society, this can be achieved by making a donation to help with funds.

Write to Sue Sutton, Parkfield, Paganhill, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 4AZ  stating

•  you are interested in joining the Maypole Society

or

• that you are interested in becoming a Friend of the Maypole Society

Please give your name, address and telephone number

More information and extracts from the Society's history about the Maypole on their dedicated website, which is due to be updated soon.

• Erected on patch of land in front of Maypole Cottages, near the crossroads of Stratford Road, Paganhill Lane and the roads leading to Parkend and Whiteshill.  Before every Whitsuntide, the tall larch spar was taken down to be repainted and decorated with garlands before  being erected, ready for the dancing, on the Green, part of Upfield lawn and gardens, to the west of Upfield Lodge. One story tells of a musician called Old Hookey who was sentenced to imprisonment for stealing a tree from Penn Wood to provide a new maypole. On 20 May 1804, during the maypole erection, a stay rope broke and the pole fell killing two children.  The tragedy brought festivities to a halt not only on that day but for years afterwards.  As a result, Charles Offley of Upfield decided to provide the community with a much-needed well and pump on the site of the former maypole.  However, after his death, villagers erected a replacement maypole near the site of the former one, and they also ceased to administer the necessary care to the water sources provided by Offley out of his own pocket.  Eventually, the Board of Health restored the pump.  In Notes and Recollections, published 1871, Paul Hawkins Fisher commented, 'At present, the may-pole, (eighty-four feet high,) and the pump stand side by side; but the aged blacksmith and Nestor of the village, lamented to me the decay of old institutions and rural recreations, - predicting that this will be the last may-pole erected in Pakenhill.'  Presumably the Nestor was one of the Holmes family!

2009

Annual General Meeting of The Paganhill Maypole Society at Paganhill Maypole Village Hall, 17 April 2009, commencing at 7.30pm

• It was announced that the Paganhill Maypole Society had been granted £100 to produce a booklet on the history of the maypole and £320 towards insurance liability payment.

• The Society's Committee of 11 members was re-elected. Members include: Sue Sutton, Chair; Richard White, Vice-chair; Peter Harris, Treasurer, Janine Bagouin, Secretary; George Lodge, Technical Officer

2010

Annual General Meeting of The Paganhill Maypole Society at Paganhill Maypole Village Hall, 15 April 2010

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Below are Society photos, including some which show scenes from the creation of a seat set into a bank on Paganhill Lane opposite the Rose Inn. 

The seat is for Paganhill residents and it commemorates the contributions to the Society of Bill Horton, Society Technical Officer, who retired from the Society after 27 years. 

It was opened officially by Society members on 5 April.  The site of the seat was prepared by volunteer Dave Damsell who dug out the bank area and prepared the base.  In addition, volunteer Jim Evans built the walled surroundings and secured the seat.

Sue Sutton, Parkfield, Paganhill, Stroud, GL5 4AZ (haydnsutton@btinternet.com)