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Planting of the Penny Hedge 2022
Planting of the Penny Hedge 2022
25th May 2022 - 25th May 2022
Upper Harbour East Side
Church Street
Whitby
YO22 4AE
Every year at 9 am. on the eve of Ascension Day the ceremony of the Horngarth, or the Planting of the Penny Hedge, takes place in Whitby’s upper harbour on the east bank of the River Esk.
The ceremony is performed under the supervision of the Bailiff of the Manor of Fyling. The hedge is constructed with 9 upright hazel stakes driven into the mud with an ancient mallet, 9 ‘yethers’ or pliant branches for intertwining, and is braced at each end with ‘strout-stowers’. There is a brushwood infill around the lower part of the stakes. Completion of the hedge is followed by 3 blasts on the ram’s horn, then a cry of “out on ye” repeated 3 times by the Bailiff. It must be strong enough to stand three tides.