The Lustleigh May Day is an annual May Day celebration in the village of Lustleigh, Devon. It involves the traditional maypole dancing, as well as the crowning of a May Queen from the eligible girls of the village. It is generally held on the first Saturday of May.
History The tradition of going "a-maying" is long held in the United Kingdom, with the association of collecting fresh flowers to crown the "fairest maiden in the village", and dancing round the maypole is also a tradition linked to the coming of spring.
The current version of this was revived by Cecil Torr of Wreyland in 1905, with children parading through the village to Long Tor farm, on a hill above the village, for maypole dancing and traditional fete games such as bowling for a pig. This corrected what Torr saw as an anomaly of the village children doing maypole dancing at the flower show and other village events, but not actually on May Day.
The 1939 May Day was postponed by a week, due to an outbreak of sickness at the village school.
The event was originally held on the second Thursday, being during the week to allow the school children of the village school to take part. From at least the 1950s, the event was moved to a Saturday.
The 1959 May Queen, Christine Moore, fell from the rock following her crowning, but was ultimately unhurt.
There is also a long tradition of morris dancing accompanying the event.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person event had to be cancelled, and a virtual May Day was held. The May Queen was crowned in person along with the 2021 and 2022 queens during the 2022 event.
May day rock and throne Since the 1905 revival, part of the Lustleigh celebration is the carving of the name of the May Queen on to a granite boulder. Two rocks have been used for this purpose, the original one on private land (then owned by Cecil Torr) on the hillside above the village, and latterly in the 'Town Orchard' in the village centre.
Original rock at Long Tor
The names of all the May Queens from 1905 to the second world war are carved on the rock at Long Tor, on the hill above Cecil Torr's house at Wreyland.
At the time it was used, all of Torr's Wreyland estate was within the Bovey Tracey parish, despite its proximity to the village. The boundary was moved in 1929, as both Wreyland and Brookfield were annexed to Lustleigh, bringing the rock inside Lustleigh parish.
Over time, the older rock at Long Tor was subject to weathering and by 1977, some of it was indecipherable. The Long Tor rock was restored by the Lustleigh Society in 2025.
Current rock at Town Orchard Following the post-war revival, the event moved to the Town Orchard in the village centre, where a new rock was carved, and all May Queens from 1954 to present are engraved upon it.
On top of the granite boulder in the orchard is a granite throne, carved into local granite from Blackenstone Quarry to celebrate the millennium, and bearing the 'MM' mark.
Participants and format The children who take part are from the village, or connected to it, and are aged between 5 and 15.
The parade takes place with the May Queen leading the procession around the village underneath a canopy of flowers carried by other children, before returning to the May Day rock throne for crowning.
May Queens
The May Queens since the revival in 1905 were: Year Queen 1905 Mabel Bunclarke 1906 Olive Chudley 1907 Annie Menhennett 1908 Amy Wyatt 1909 Florrie Valance 1910 Ethel Squires 1911 Alice Howard 1912 Dorothy Motton 1913 Muriel Brimblecombe 1914 Janie Lake 1915 Guinevere Morecombe 1916 Irene Crockford 1917 May Yeoman 1918 Gertrude Parker 1919 Gladys Waldron 1920 Vera Hill 1921 May Wonnacott 1922 Phyllis Yeoman 1923 Florrie Aggett 1924 Josephine Wilson 1925 Romola Wills 1926 Dolly White 1927 Phyllis Yeoman 1928 Kathleen Cooper 1929 Mary Marshall 1930 Winifred Horrell 1931 Brenda Osbourne 1932 May Clarke 1933 Winifred Olding 1934 Nellie Wills 1935 Barbara Weeks 1936 Veronica Yeoman 1937 Eileen Dray 1938 Phyllis Wills 1939 Edna Dray 1940 Rosie Olding 1941 - 1953 No Ceremony 1954 Gillian Williams 1955 Myra Brock 1956 Patricia Powell 1957 Janet Horrell 1958 Helen Beard 1959 Christine Moore 1960 Iona Jones 1961 Jayne Nelson 1962 Jennifer Perry 1963 Ruth Matthews 1964 Carola Woodger 1965 Jacqueline Kennett 1966 Patricia Johnson 1967 Angela Woodger 1968 Vivienne Jenkin 1969 Suzanna Beaumont 1970 Jane Aggett 1971 Wendy Harvey 1972 Julie Germon 1973 Diane Aggett 1974 Caroline Williams 1975 Annette Stephens 1976 Catherine Beaumont 1977 Debbie Seabrook 1978 Heather Wright 1979 Julie Osborne 1980 Susan Aggett 1981 Rebecca French 1982 Jeanette Palmer 1983 Lisa Rowe 1984 Debbie Goodfellow 1985 Sarah Jane Lilley 1986 Carolyn Tapson 1987 Salley Ann Lilley 1988 Rebecca Merriott 1989 Kim Hopwood 1990 Coralie Olver 1991 Abigail Mabey 1992 Katie Jacoby 1993 Simone Olver 1994 Lisa Roberts 1995 Natalie Davis 1996 Rebecca Drewett 1997 Laura Dale 1998 Louise Baudouy 1999 Daisy Beare 2000 Emma Wills 2001 Joely Badger 2002 Harriet Knowles 2003 Lucy James 2004 Annie Reddaway 2005 Chloe May Wright 2006 Anna Bell 2007 Jessica Beare 2008 Alice James 2009 Kirsty Heather 2010 Bryony Bell 2011 Lauren Heather 2012 Celia Coleman 2013 Abigail Pelling 2014 Harmony Bidder 2015 Abigail Carroll 2016 Talia Sullivan 2017 Amy Jaggs 2018 Maisie Roper Melland 2019 Keevie Oaff 2020 Imogen Woodcock 2021 Isla McCabe 2022 Arabella Kennaird-Melling 2023 Aurelia Fanshawe 2024 Bridie Gregson 2025 Eve Rose Whitehead 2026 Holly Skilton
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