Beating the Bounds

Before maps were available it was important to commit the boundaries of an area to memory and to pass this information on to a younger generation.

Physically walking the boundaries was a way of mentally mapping it. The Beating of the Bounds would have traditionally been a formal and ceremonial occasion, often led by local church leaders. The ceremony became associated with the Christian calendar and would take place on Ascension Day or during Rogation week. The ceremonies would often be accompanied by festivities.

Parishioners would walk clockwise around the boundaries. At specific landmarks, such as a tree or pond, the person leading the walk would stop and read from the Gospel. Priests would pray for the protection of the land and a good harvest. Young boys who would accompany the procession would use long willow or birch branches to beat the boundary markers. Sometimes they would be ‘bumped’ or lightly whipped themselves to ensure they remembered where the boundaries were.

Beating the Calverton Bounds

In 1997, a group of local people re-established the Beating of the Calverton Bounds. A participant documented the day. This is the route they took, though with some of the farms having been demolished, it is difficult to follow.

From a petrol station car park in Calverton Road, they followed the edge of Stony Stratford up to the A5 and walk along this road through the hedgerow to just beyond the Harrisons’ farm at Two Mile Ash. They turned south to Lady Margery’s Gorse, continuing past Whitehouse Farm to Sheriley Grounds Farm, then down the Whaddon Road for ½ mile. They then took the public footpath on the right towards Lady Carrington’s Gorse, and followed the boundary towards Blacon Spinney and out onto the Beachampton Road. Crossing the road they followed the boundary to the Great Ouse River, and then followed that back to the car park.

Contemporary Beating the Bounds

Artists, local historians, and campaigners are still fascinated with the Beating the Bounds ceremonies and the themes associated with it. Here is a list of some of those:

• The Past Tense blog has an interesting and detailed article about Beating the Bounds, its history and contemporary use as a means of protesting development and protecting green spaces.
• Writer and filmmaker, John Rogers, records his own participation in a Beating the Bounds ceremony in 2006.
• In 2009, Tate Britain had an exhibition called Beating the Bounds, which focused on the physical encounter between people and objects.
• Grayson Perry’s Reith Lecture in 2013 was called Beating the Bounds and questioned the boundaries of art.
• Artist Abigail Reynolds created a Beating the Bounds work in 2017 for Tate St Ives.
• Silva and Sajovic created a walk with other artists which ‘Beat the Bounds’ of Elephant & Castle.
• Emile Taylor’s ceramics exhibition in 2018 explored motherhood and its special limitations.