News / Rush Sunday
In Photos: Rush Sunday service
For more than 500 years, St Mary Redcliffe has hosted the Rush Sunday service – an ancient tradition of Bristol’s civic calendar.
William Canynges of Redcliffe Street was a merchant, five times mayor of Bristol and a principal benefactor of St Mary Redcliffe. After the death of his wife in 1467, William was ordained here as a priest and went on to celebrate his first mass on Pentecost the following year.
William Spenser, who was also the mayor of Bristol sometime, made a tradition in 1493 for three sermons to be preached in the presence of the mayor and commonality on days after Pentecost. Those attending this service often carried along ‘nosegays’, a sweet-smelling bunch of flowers, as they walked on rushes strewn across the floor of the parish.
To this day, the floor of St Mary Redcliffe is covered in rushes to continue this tradition.
Scroll through to see some pictures from this year’s procession and service
All photos: Rob Browne
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