We are pleased to be able to continue with the centuries old tradition of ringing the Pancake Bell in Morley. Below is the impressive history of this tradition.
PANCAKE DAY
The Pancake Tradition is nearly 1000 years old. The annual tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday is now so well established that many people participate without actually knowing how the custom emerged.
The tradition was born out of the religious fasting perlod of Lent. Shrove Tuesday as we now call it, always falls on the day before Ash Wednesday which is the official beginning of Lent. In preparation for Lent everyone would go to the church on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday to confess or “shrive” their sins, hence this day became known as Shrove Tuesday. After this day fat and meats were forbidden and so the housewives would use up what was left in the larder to make savoury pancakes to be eaten up during the pre-Lent celebration on the Tuesday afternoon.
It is from this that the pancake races were born. As folklore has it, the Church beil would ring just before 12 noon to mark the approaching end of shriving time. Housewives eager to reach the church in time for the last “shriving” would race through the streets still clutching their half -finished pancakes and so pancake races became part of the pancake tradition.
The pancake bell at St Mary’s in the Wood has been rung for more than 300 years. We believe that the bell has been rung for more than 300 years, starting ni the era of’told chapel. the actual ball bears the inscription Soli Deo Gloria, 1694 – Glory to God Alone. Tradition has it that the bell originally came from Kirkstail Abbey.
Derek Varley.
