Hocktide 2025

Once celebrated throughout the country The Town and Manor of Hungerford’s most important event, Hocktide, held on the second Tuesday after Easter and first recorded in the twelfth century was an important holiday and rare day off for the villeins from working the land and allowed them to let their hair down after Lent. More information about this event can be found on our website at www.townandmanor.co.uk.

We still celebrate Hocktide today and the annual Hocktide Lunch held in the Corn Exchange of the Town Hall in Hungerford takes place this year on the 29^th April. Tickets to attend this traditional highlight of the town’s year are available to purchase by Commoners and townsfolk alike.

Tickets cost £54.00 for Commoners, £57.00 for their partner/guest (1 only) and £60.00 for any members of the public who would like to join us and experience the last historical Hocktide celebration still running in the UK!

Your day starts with a complimentary glass of wine before the lunch served in the Magistrates’ Room of the Town Hall. Lunch commences promptly at 1.00 pm, including 4 courses, ale and punch. The Bar will be open from 12.00 noon, and additional wine will be available to purchase in the foyer. Please make sure you buy your bottle of wine (or two) before entering the Corn Exchange for lunch. Soft drinks will also be available for purchase. At some point during lunch the Tithing Men and the Orangeman will join us, and we ask that you welcome them (loudly) into their seats.

The 2025 Hocktide Lunch menu is as follows:

Smoked Trout, Orange and Watercress Salad

(V, VE alternative = Avocado, Heritage Tomatoes, Orange and Watercress Salad)

Baskets of Sourdough Bread with Salted Butter

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Roasted Sirloin of Beef with Yorkshire Pudding

Roasted Potatoes

Romanesco Cauliflower, Sugar Snap and French Beans

Roasted Vegetables

Gravy (extra to be served in gravy boats to the tables)

Creamed Horseradish

(V. VE alternative = Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Tart)

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Individual Home-Made Lemon Meringue Pie

Or

Fresh Fruit Salad

Served with Jugs of Cream

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A Selection of English Cheeses, Salted Butter, Biscuits, Fruits and Chutney

Filter Coffee or Tea and Chocolates

After lunch and speeches, the Blacksmith will proceed with shoeing the colts - a tradition carried out light-heartedly, in which first-time visitors are caught and ‘shod’ (the horse shoe is real, the shoeing isn’t!). The only people to be shod are those who have not attended the lunch before. This tradition has long been part of the Hocktide Lunch and it is carried out light heartedly. A donation of £5 is appreciated to cover the cost of shoeing.

If you or your guests have any important dietary requirements we need to be aware of, please give Kathy Blossom a call on 01488 684011 once you have purchased your tickets to discuss - alternatively, pop in and see her at Crown Needlework in the High Street.