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Riotous Assembly
To the right, on the floor, is a caption "give us back our 11 days". This refers to the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752 with this adjustment in early September that year.
Urban Myth or Rural Affray?
This national tabloid published an article on an affray at Quainton at Christmas last, in 1752.
This national tabloid published an article on an affray at Quainton at Christmas last, in 1752.
The Gentlemans Magazine, Dec. 24, 1752
This relates to Quainton's offshoot of the Glastonbury thorn which failed to flower on Christmas in the new calendar. This caused the Ministers to honour Christmas day according to the old calendar, when it duly flowered
Urban Myth or Rural Affray?
Urban Myth or Rural Affray?
A more recent replacement Hawthorn at Glastonbury
The hawthorn lasts around 400 years but was destroyed in the 17th Century and more recently a later replacement in 2010
The hawthorn fruit
Urban Myth or Rural Affray?
First Day Cover, The Glastonbury Thorn, 1986

The painting by William Hogarth depicts an riotous election assembly with a caption of “gives us back our 11 days” in the right hand foreground. Historians generally dismiss that the lost of 11 days in the adoption of the Gregorian calender in England in 1752 led to riots. However, a riotous congregation in Quainton churchyard was recorded in 1753 in two national papers……