May - Beating the Bounds 插畫檔

Crowds of excited people taking part in the traditional ceremony of ‘Beating the Bounds’ - an ancient custom which is still observed in some parts of England and Wales. It was a way of checking that parish boundaries were where they should be and no encroachment had been made on that parish’s territory by another parish or landowner. The ‘beating’ would be carried out by boys who would beat the parish markers or boundary stones with birch or willow boughs.