The History of the Harvest Festival

One of my fondest memories of autumn is the harvest festival. I come from a religious background, and I recall that towards the end of every September our school asked for donations of tinned and dried foods. We would go to church to bless the food and celebrate the harvest.

One year, I remember there was a huge loaf of bread in the shape of a splayed wheat sheaf that dominated a display of fruit, vegetables and other harvest goods in front of the altar.

When I agreed to join the A Match Made in Autumn author collaboration, and I was putting together story ideas, it revived my memories of childhood harvest festivals. So, I used that as a starting point. However, my research revealed that harvest celebrations in the Georgian era were very different to what I remembered as a child, so let’s explore what I found out.

A Match Made in Autumn

The importance of the harvest

These days, our understanding of our food’s connection to the land and the importance of a successful harvest has diminished. In modern times, harvest festivals are usually on a fixed day in the UK (the Sunday closest to the harvest moon, the full moon that appears closest to the autumn equinox). In the past, harvest celebrations varied depending on the county and when the last crops were ‘brought home’.

Harvest time varied across Britain. It started earlier in the south and then progressed north and could have been any time over August and September. From the medieval period to the end of the Georgian era, it was considered important to get the crops in before Michaelmas (29^th September).

In the Middle Ages, the feast of St Michael was celebrated with fairs, markets and eating a goose that had been put out into the stubbled harvest fields to fatten up. In her letters, Jane Austen mentions eating goose at Michaelmas, and it was said to bring financial protection for the coming year.

History of the harvest festival — Harvesting at Windsor (1795) by Benjamin West

There was a deep understanding of the importance of crop gathering, and the harvest was held in reverence. A good harvest ensured that the entire community was well-fed over the winter months. A poor harvest led to widespread malnutrition and hardship.

In the year without a summer (1816), the harvest failed. Corn and meat prices escalated, and combined with the return of soldiers and sailors following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, unemployment rose and competition for work was high. This all created a hotpot of civil unrest.

To discourage merchants from buying cheap corn from abroad and preserve agricultural jobs in Britain, the government had already brought in the Corn Laws (1815), which were tariffs on imported corn. This only increased the price of bread for urban workers, and riots ensued.

Just to clear things up, in the past, the term ‘corn’ referred to all forms of cereal crops or grains such as wheat, barley and oats. The modern term ‘corn’ refers to sweetcorn or maize, which was not grown in the UK until as late as the 1970s.

Pagan origins

Many harvest festival traditions were (and still are) steeped in superstition, and giving thanks for a successful harvest has pagan origins.

Ancient festivals stem from the belief that a spirit resided in the last sheaf of corn, known as the ‘corn spirit’ or ‘corn mother’. Some believed the spirit had to be chased out, so the last sheaf was beaten to the ground. Others believed it was bad luck to cut the last sheaf, while some kept the last sheaf and made it into a corn dolly, which was re-planted in the soil to bless the following year’s crop.

The word ‘harvest’ comes from the Old English word ‘hærfest’ which means autumn.

In early Christianity, the beginning of the harvest season was celebrated on 1^st August. The day was known as Lammas (loaf mass). Farmers made loaves of bread from the fresh wheat crop and gave them to the local church to be blessed and used as communion bread.

Other than that, harvest celebrations had nothing to do with the church. (This put a spanner in the works for my original story idea for the autumn collaboration, but I pivoted.)

The harvest supper

The highlight of the harvest season was the harvest supper. Once the last sheaf of corn (also known as the mell or the neck) had been cut, it signified the end of the harvest work and the beginning of the harvest celebrations.

The last crops would be brought back to the farm by a horse and waggon decorated with ribbons and flowers.

The harvest supper or the mell supper was hosted by the farmer. All who helped to bring in the harvest, and everyone in the locality, attended.

The supper was a fantastic feast of meats, vegetables, puddings, tarts and ales. After long hours of backbreaking work in the fields, everyone celebrated with dancing, singing and drinking games.

It was a rare opportunity for revelry that could be enjoyed by the working classes. Labourers and servants had to ask permission from their employers to attend, and many would be out celebrating all night. Geez, just imagine the hangover with no painkillers to help you through the following day’s work.

By the 1830s, the ‘respectable classes’ viewed the harvest feast celebrations as verging on scandalous, leading to drunken and scurrilous behaviour. Something had to be done to curb these excesses amongst the labouring classes 🙄.

Harvest festivals in church

In 1843, Reverend Robert Hawker, a clergyman in Morwenstow, Cornwall, tried a more sober means of celebrating the harvest by inviting his parishioners to a special thanksgiving church service.

This caught on (boo, hiss), and by the 1860s many parishes across Britain had abandoned the harvest frolic and settled on more sombre and respectable celebrations of the harvest. Now we have the tradition of decorating the church, harvest hymns and prayers, and the blessing of a selection of harvest foods, such as sheaves of wheat, bread, fruit and vegetables.

These days, harvest time (except for farmers) focuses on charitable giving, and schools organise collections of food donations which can be given to food banks to help the many who can’t access basic provisions.

While harvest traditions may have changed, some of the sad realities of life have not. Food supplies have, and always will be, dictated by forces beyond our control, and politics too.

There were so many harvest traditions during the Georgian era, but here, I focused on the harvest celebration. Part of me wishes I could go back to experience the frolics of the harvest supper. But hey, you can escape to the Yorkshire countryside and enjoy the harvest celebrations in my novella, Beneath the Harvest Moon, which was inspired by this research.