Spaw Sunday, or Spa Sunday, is a celebration held on the first Sunday in May and peculiar to Yorkshire and, formerly, Lancashire. [1] [2] [3] It is focused on local holy wells or spas whose spring waters are believed to have restorative or healing properties only on that day. Celebrations usually include a short pilgrimage from the local church to the spring, and a blessing of the waters by the clergy, after which the crowd take turns to smell or taste the usually highly sulphurous waters. Traditionally liquorice was steeped in a cup of collected waters, or shaken in a bottle of same, to sweeten the taste. Though it is not officially recommended to drink the waters, watching others react to the strong taste is part of the spectacle. Dock pudding is served at the Calderdale events. [4]
Yorkshire, formally known as the County of York, is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Due to its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as a geographical territory and cultural region. The name is familiar and well understood across the United Kingdom and is in common use in the media and the military, and also features in the titles of current areas of civil administration such as North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and East Riding of Yorkshire.
Lancashire is a ceremonial county in North West England. The administrative centre is Preston. The county has a population of 1,449,300 and an area of 1,189 square miles (3,080 km2). People from Lancashire are known as Lancastrians.
A holy well or sacred spring is a spring or other small body of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The term holy well is commonly employed to refer to any water source of limited size, which has some significance in the folklore of the area where it is located, whether in the form of a particular name, an associated legend, the attribution of healing qualities to the water through the numinous presence of its guardian spirit or Christian saint, or a ceremony or ritual centred on the well site. In Christian legend, the water is often said to have been made to flow by the action of a saint, a familiar theme especially in the hagiography of Celtic saints.
The practice was common up until the early part of the 20th century but nearly died out. In a few places it has been successfully revived in recent years and the day's events are accompanied by brass bands, long sword dancing, or similar traditional displays, at:
A British brass band is a musical ensemble comprising a standardized range of brass and percussion instruments. The modern form of the brass band in the United Kingdom dates back to the 19th century, with a vibrant tradition of competition based around communities and local industry, with colliery bands being particularly notable. The Stalybridge Old Band was formed in 1809 and was perhaps the first civilian brass band in the world.
The Long Sword dance is a hilt-and-point sword dance recorded mainly in Yorkshire, England. The dances are usually performed around Christmas time and were believed to derive from a rite performed to enable a fruitful harvest.
- Midgley, [5] Calderdale, West Yorkshire: the most popular
- Cragg Vale, [6] Calderdale, West Yorkshire: not far from Midgley
- Gunthwaite, [7] Penistone, South Yorkshire: some 25 miles from the other spas
Midgley is a hill-top village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 12 miles (20 km) east from Burnley and 4 miles (6 km) west-north-west of Halifax town centres, and just north of the A646 road. Nearby villages are Mytholmroyd 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west-south-west, and Hebden Bridge 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the west-north-west.
The Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It takes its name from the River Calder, whose upper part flows through the borough. Several small valleys contain tributaries of the River Calder. The population at the 2011 Census was 203,826.
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England. It is an inland and in relative terms upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in moors of the Pennines and has a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972.
