Beating the Bounds

Find out if people in your parish church still 'beat the bounds' - walk around the boundaries of the parish.

In some churches, the members still do this on Ascension Day or on a day near to it. It is an old custom going back hundreds of years when children were taught where the boundaries, or limits, of their parish were.

Children were led around the bounds by clergymen or other officials. Boys might be beaten with a stick and water was sometimes poured on them from windows - to help them remember!

You might ask an older relative or friend to find out whether they used to 'beat the bounds' and what happened.

You can find out more by looking at:

Beating the Bounds - a historical account from Findon, West Sussex

Beating the Bounds at Calverton, near Milton Keynes.

Beating the Bounds - an article from the online magazine of St Peter's Church, Nottingham.


Ascension Home Page