Hazelbury Pageant:
George and Kate Foster

Brochure courtesy Clive Banks.
Newspaper extracts courtesy Bath Chronicle.

October 2015

The brochure was in the records of Clive's mother Joyce Vezey who performed in the pageant and proudly saved it.

Left: George and Kate pictured in 1935 when they left Box parish, swapping livings with Rev AF Maltin of Redland, returning to Bristol after eleven years of local theatrical activities.
In the Beginning
In July 1924 the Rev George Foster left the curacy at Redland Chapel after five and a half years and accepted the living at Box Church.[1] He was inducted by the Archdeacon of Swindon on 27 September that year.[2]

He had a degree in theology from St David's College, Lampeter, in 1911 and was always a very resourceful man, receiving a pitiful stipend in his previous job and relying on goodwill handouts by the congregation.[3] 

The people of Box already knew George's strengths and interests and welcomed his induction to provide a measure of fun in severely depressed times. From the outset of his ministry in Box he was described as well known in musical circles and a member of the Bristol Savages.[4]

He was a leader who inspired others and was fearless in the depth of his commitment to introduce spiritual and moral instruction through the suspension of disbelief in plays and pageants. He also put on various Variety Shows under the titles of Some Rubbish, More Rubbish and Still More Rubbish. It is possible that his enjoyment was as a theatrical producer and actor more than his day-time job.
Box should not have been surprised that by March 1925 George had started a Guild of Players in the village.

He announced his intention to produce a Passion Play, The Only Son, in the Bingham Hall on Good Friday 1925, and to follow this up with a series of medieval Mystery Plays. His stated objective was to present the Christian mysteries through the medium of the stage.[5]

There was a desire in Box for levity to counter the problems of economic depression and an existing format of garden parties and processions including the Party at Cheney Court (left) in the summer of 1925.[6]
And in July 1925 George Foster with the backing of George Kidston owner of Hazelbury Manor put on their most ambitious production ever, Box Fete and Historical Pageant in the grounds of Hazelbury Manor. The following (saved by Joyce Banks, nee Vezey) is the brochure produced specially to commemorate the production and to fundraise. It was a pioneer attempt to tell the story of the village.

Introduction to the Event
Setting at Hazelbury
George Kidston had bought Hazelbury Manor from the Northey family in 1919 and was busy restoring the property. It was a labour of love and his book History of the Manor of Hazelbury produced in 1936 is still a major resource for discovering more about Box's past.
Box Village History
The pageant presented a series of tableaux and processions depicting scenes from Box's past. But permeating the seriousness of the production were schoolboy jokes and silliness like the Emergency Exit notice above. There were a total of eleven amusing diversions in the brochure for sharp-eyed readers; how many have you spotted?

Objectives
Historical Tableaux
The pageant really comprised a series of displays. Without modern Master of Ceremonies notices it is hard to imagine that many people would have understood the enactments without the help of the brochure.

The Roman Villa
Box Stone and St Aldhelm, Saxon founder of Malmesbury Abbey
History of Hazelbury Manor in 1300s
We might imagine that George Kidston produced some of his early history research to draft out the Hazelbury sections.
Chapel Plaister
Box Revels
Conclusion
The fete was a great success with its farm produce stalls, and tug-of-war and it raised the magnificent sum of £245 in a single afternoon for repair work in St Thomas à Becket Church and maintenance of the Bingham Hall.[7] Some of the funds went towards restoration of the Hazelbury Chapel in Box Church which was completed a year later by Mr and the Hon Mrs Shaw-Mellor in memory of their daughter, the late Miss Joan Marion Shaw-Mellor, and opened by the Bishop of Bristol who also dedicated a new, handsome, jewel-studded processional cross for the church's use.[8]

We have omitted from the brochure the pages with advertisements which we intend to publish separately, including the grand opening of the Box Co-operative Store in 1925.
References
[1] Bath Chronicle, 19 July 1924 and 20 September 1924
[2] Bath Chronicle, 13 September 1924
[3] Bath Chronicle, 20 September 1924
[4] Bath Chronicle, 26 July 1924
[5] Bath Chronicle, 7 March 1925
[6] Bath Chronicle and Herald, 6 June 1925
[7] Parish Magazine April 1929
[8] Bath Chronicle and Herald, 27 February 1926