There they blow – a tradition that is 1,134 years old
Coronavirus has not stopped ‘setting the watch’ when horns are blown every night in city
FOR MORE than 1,000 years, Ripon’s city watch has been set every evening with four short horn blasts.
This hallowed ceremony, originally introduced to ward off threats from crooks and villains, has endured through two world wars and has once again persisted through a tumultuous time in history.
The city’s hornblowers have been setting the watch from their own gardens, rather than the usual places – the four corners of the market cross and outside the mayor’s home – to ensure the ritual survives.
There is no tradition more ingrained in the city than the sounding of the horn, the hornblowers say, so long as it comes from within the city bounds.
“It’s always been done, it is living history,” said Allison Clark, one of three hornblowers charged with preserving this symbol of the city.
“The hornblower has always set the watch. There is a sense of security, that it carries on regardless.”
The hornblowing custom dates back to 886, when a wakeman was formally appointed to keep the city safe from Viking invasion.
Alfred the Great, on visiting the city, is said to have been so impressed that he wished to grant the community a charter. Legend says that with no parchment on which to write, all he had to offer was a horn.
The wakeman was charged with setting the watch – blowing the horn every night at 9pm at the four corners of the market cross to signal the start of his watch, so residents would know it was safe to sleep and that he was in the city keeping a watchful eye all night.
He was not allowed to “flitt” out of town or dwell outside the city limits during his time in office unless there was a pestilence. Any abuse of him with “slanderous” words was punishable by a day and night in the stocks.
There is no known time that it has been missed, although in the Second World War it was moved to an earlier hour of 6pm to avoid the regular blackouts.
Once the watch is set, the hornblowers must make their way to the mayor’s abode, doffing their tricord hats to shout “Mr Mayor, the watch is set!”
“There’s been times when it’s been done by the skin of its teeth, but as long as it’s before midnight it’s all right,” said Mrs Clark.
“We’ve had the opposite problem more often, where two of us turn up.”
The horn blowing has become a tourist draw in its own right, attracting international visitors to witness a ceremony that has been in existence in the city for centuries.
Under lockdown, the watch setting has once again been moved and broadcast over the
ANCIENT TRADITION: Allison Clark keeps the tradition going by blowing the 1690 horn in her garden, and with fellow hornblowers Richard Midgley (left) and Wayne Cobbett. PICTURES: GARY LONGBOTTOM
internet as it happens for all to witness.
There have been challenges, with wifi pitfalls for live broadcasts and poor lighting as early March nights drew in, but for 130 days the tradition has carried on.
The current mayor of Ripon is the landlord of The Magdalens pub, and the hornblowers would normally blow their horn outside
his pub every evening to let him know the watch had been set.
Since lockdown began, they have been informing him over text message instead.
The digital record on the hornblowers’ Facebook page shows an extraordinary passing of time as the seasons change, said Mrs Clark.
While the tradition in public is missed, it will one day return.
She said Ripon City Council is following Buckingham Palace as a guide as to when it begins to reinstate its official ceremonial duties.
“We always like to be down in the square, we all enjoy meeting and talking to people and hearing their stories,” said Mrs Clark. “We have missed that.
“The important thing for the city is that the tradition endures.
“It means a lot to the city and, for the people of Ripon. They can rely on it, they can set their watch by it.
“We’re really proud that we’ve kept it going, that we have adapted and moved with the times.
“This history, and these traditions, do give people a sense of pride.”
The important thing for the city is that the tradition endures.
Allison Clark, one of the three Ripon hornblowers.