Newton Rebels Commemorative Weekend
400th anniversary of the Newton Rebellion 1607
Friday 8 June – Sunday 10 June 2007

The sun shone. The summer’s rain hadn’t begun. About 400 people joined in the events over the weekend, which was a huge success, thanks to the support of villagers and village organisations, and the planning by the Newton Rebels weekend committee.

The purpose was to commemorate the Newton Rebellion, in which 40-50 local people protesting against the enclosure of common land by the Treshams were killed by troops led by the local gentry, commanded by Sir Edward Montagu of Boughton, as Deputy Lieutenant of Northamptonshire.

The weekend began on Friday evening, 8 June, the actual anniversary of the rebellion. As the bells of St Mary Magdalene rang and the drums of the Sealed Knot sounded, Rev Giles Godber led a walk from Geddington to Newton for service commemorating those who died 400 years ago.

On Saturday, the Sealed Knot’s Living History Camp attracted visitors and others joined walks to the site of the enclosures. The following day, a church service at Geddington put the events of the 17th century into perspective, and then at Newton the afternoon’s programme kicked off with folk music from local musicians in the paddock at the Buttery. Later, a pageant told the story of the events leading up to the rebellion, complete with molly dancing by children from Geddington School and a moving re-enactment of the massacre by the Sealed Knot.

The Buttery proved a wonderful venue for the weekend, and Rob and Maxine’s help was much appreciated. Captain Pouch beer, specially brewed by Potbelly Brewery of Kettering, flowed copiously. The events were funded through grants from Rockingham Forest Trust and the European Commission, Kettering Borough Council and the Lottery, which enabled the Rebels to involve the Sealed Knot and the Ouse Wash Molly Dancers, who worked intensively at Geddington School in the preceding week. The active support of Mrs Spooner, who was keen to programme the dancing into the curriculum, was invaluable, and what would we have done without the stalwarts of the Volunteer Fire Brigade to manage the car parking arrangements?

Many thanks to all who contributed. The money raised over the weekend will go towards a permanent memorial to those killed in 1607. In July, a smaller cast took a reduced version of the pageant to the commemorations at Cotesbach, where another rebellion took place as part of the Midland Revolt in the early summer of 1607.